Possible Signs of Alien Life? Methane in the Plumes of Saturn’s Moon Enceladus
A study published in Nature Astronomy concludes that known geochemical processes can’t explain the levels of methane measured by the Cassini spacecraft on Saturn’s icy…
Enceladus
Encased in an Icy Shell, the Ocean on Saturn’s Moon Enceladus Appears to Be Churning
Buried beneath 20 kilometers of ice, the subsurface ocean of Enceladus—one of Saturn’s moons—appears to be churning with currents akin to those on Earth. The…
Worlds With Underground Oceans – Like Europa, Titan, and Enceladus – May Be More Conducive to Supporting Life Than Earth
Layers of ice and rock obviate the need for “habitable zone” and shield life against threats. SwRI researcher theorizes worlds with underground oceans may be…
Discovery Provides More Evidence That Saturn’s Moon Enceladus Could Support Life in Its Subsurface Ocean
Models Point to a Potentially Diverse Metabolic Menu at Enceladus Using data from NASA’s Cassini spacecraft, scientists at Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) modeled chemical processes…
Stunning New View of Saturn’s Moon Enceladus [Explore Interactively]
A global infrared mosaic of Saturn’s moon Enceladus created using a complete dataset from the Cassini spacecraft has revealed new detail on the moon’s surface….
Infrared Eyes on Enceladus: Hints of Fresh Ice in Northern Hemisphere of Saturn’s Moon
Scientists used data gathered by NASA’s Cassini spacecraft during 13 years of exploring the Saturn system to make detailed images of the icy moon —…
Inner Complexity of Saturn’s Moon Enceladus Revealed – Hints at Habitable Conditions
Enceladus’ subsurface ocean composition hints at habitable conditions. A Southwest Research Institute team developed a new geochemical model that reveals that carbon dioxide (CO2) from…
Water Erupts Through Fissures on Enceladus’ Icy Surface – New Research Reveals the Physics
How Enceladus Got Its Stripes New research reveals the physics governing the fissures through which ocean water erupts from the moon’s icy surface. Saturn’s icy…
Strange Erupting ‘Tiger Stripes’ on Saturn’s Icy Moon Enceladus Finally Explained
Saturn’s tiny, frozen moon Enceladus is a strange place. Just 300 miles across, the moon is thought to have an outer shell of ice covering…
New Kinds of Organic Compounds Found in Plumes Bursting From Saturn’s Moon Enceladus
New kinds of organic compounds, the ingredients of amino acids, have been detected in the plumes bursting from Saturn’s moon Enceladus. The findings are the…
Listen to the Sound of Plasma Waves Moving Between Saturn and Enceladus
New research from NASA’s Cassini spacecraft’s up-close Grand Finale orbits shows a surprisingly powerful and dynamic interaction of plasma waves moving from Saturn to its…
Organic Compounds Bubble Up from the Depths of Enceladus
Data from NASA’s Cassini spacecraft reveal complex organic molecules originating from Saturn’s icy moon Enceladus, strengthening the idea that this ocean world hosts conditions suitable…
Deep-Sea Volcanic Springs Aid the Search for Extraterrestrial Life
Off the coast of Hawaii’s Big Island and more than 3,000 feet beneath the ocean surface lie the warm, bubbling springs of a volcano —…
A Song of Ice and Light, Enceladus Drifts Before Saturn’s Rings
Saturn’s moon Enceladus drifts before the rings and the tiny moon Pandora in this view that NASA’s Cassini spacecraft captured on November 1, 2009. The…
Cassini Image of Enceladus Drifting By Saturn’s Rings
Saturn’s moon Enceladus drifts before the rings, which glow brightly in the sunlight. Beneath its icy exterior shell, Enceladus hides a global ocean of liquid…
Are Distant Snowy Moons Potentially Habitable?
Santa’s winter workshop might be in space, as University of Warwick researchers are exploring whether snowy moons over a billion kilometers away from Earth are…
New Research Into Saturn’s Geologically Active Moon Enceladus
A new study by European and U.S. researchers shows that heat from friction could power hydrothermal activity on Saturn’s moon Enceladus for billions of years…
SELFI Instrument Being Designed to Study the Plumes of Enceladus
Engineers and scientists at NASA have conceived and plan to build an ambitious submillimeter-wave or radio instrument to study the composition of geysers spewing water…