The search for extraterrestrial life just got more interesting as a team of scientists including Southwest Research Institute’s Dr. Christopher Glein has discovered new evidence for a key building block […]
Enceladus
Posted inEnceladus, Icy Worlds, Press Release
A Mushy Source For The Geysers Of Enceladus
Enceladus is a primary target for astrobiology due to the salty plume ejecta measured by the Cassini spacecraft and the inferred subsurface ocean sustained by tidal heating. Sourcing the plumes […]
Posted inEnceladus, Icy Worlds, Missions & Hardware, Press Release
Science Objectives For A Mission Concept To Enceladus: The Astrobiology
The Cassini-Huygens mission provided unprecedented information regarding Enceladus’ surface and interior, including the discovery of a subsurface ocean and strong evidence for waterrock interactions, which could provide the physical and […]
Posted inIcy Worlds
Different Ice Shell Geometries On Europa And Enceladus Due To Their Different Ssizes: Impacts Of Ocean Heat Transport
On icy worlds, the ice shell and subsurface ocean form a coupled system — heat and salinity flux from the ice shell induced by the ice thickness gradient drives circulation […]
Posted inIcy Worlds
Energetics Govern Ocean Circulation On Icy Ocean Worlds
Globally ice-covered oceans have been found on multiple moons in the solar system and may also have been a feature of Earth’s past. However, relatively little is understood about the […]
Posted inEnceladus
Dynamics Of Geysers And Tracer Transport Over The South Pole Of Enceladus
Over the south pole of Enceladus, an icy moon of Saturn, geysers eject water into space in a striped pattern, making Enceladus one of the most attractive destinations in the […]
Posted inEnceladus, Icy Worlds, Mimas, Press Release, Titan
Particle Deposition On The Saturnian Satellites From Ephemeral Cryovolcanism On Enceladus
The geologically active south pole of Enceladus generates a plume of micron-sized particles, which likely form Saturn’s tenuous E-ring extending from the orbit of Mimas to Titan. Interactions between these […]
Posted inDale Andersen's Field Reports
Survival Strategies Of An Anoxic Microbial Ecosystem In Lake Untersee, A Potential Analog For Enceladus
Lake Untersee located in Eastern Antarctica, is a perennially ice-covered lake. At the bottom of its southern basin lies 20 m of anoxic, methane rich, stratified water, making it a […]
Posted inEnceladus
On Enceladus Expansion Cracks Lets An Inner Ocean Boil Out
In 2006, the Cassini spacecraft recorded geyser curtains shooting forth from “tiger stripe” fissures near the south pole of Saturn’s moon Enceladus — sometimes as much as 200 kilograms of […]
Posted inEnceladus
The Role Of Ocean Circulation In Driving Hemispheric Symmetry Breaking Of The Ice Shell Of Enceladus
The ice shell of Enceladus exhibits strong asymmetry between its hemispheres, with all known geysers concentrated over the south pole, even though its orbital configuration is almost perfectly symmetric. By […]