Enceladus Ice Geysers
Ice geysers erupt on Enceladus, bright and shiny inner moon of Saturn.
Shown in this false-color image, a backlit view of the moon's southern
limb,the majestic, icy plumes were discovered by instruments on the
Cassini Spacecraft during close encounters with Enceladus in November
of 2005. Eight source locations for these geysers have now been identified
along substantial surface fractures in the moon's south polar region.
Researchers suspect the geysers arise from near-surface pockets of liquid
water with temperatures near 273 kelvins (0 degrees C). That's hot when
compared to the distant moon's surface temperature of 73 kelvins (-200
degrees C). The cryovolcanism is a dramatic sign that tiny, 500km-diameter
Enceladus is surprisingly active. Enceladus ice geysers also likely produce
Saturn's faint but extended E ring.