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An observed correlation between plume activity and tidal stresses on Enceladus

Sotin, C.; Brown, R. H.; Baines, K. H. +6 more

Saturn's moon Enceladus emits a plume of water vapour and micrometre-sized ice particles from a series of warm fissures located near its south pole. This geological activity could be powered or controlled by variations in the tidal stresses experienced by Enceladus as it moves around its slightly eccentric orbit. The specific mechanisms by which t…

A rigid and weathered ice shell on Titan

Iess, L.; Zebker, H.; Nimmo, F. +1 more

Several lines of evidence suggest that Saturn's largest moon, Titan, has a global subsurface ocean beneath an outer ice shell 50 to 200 kilometres thick. If convection is occurring, the rigid portion of the shell is expected to be thin; similarly, a weak, isostatically compensated shell has been proposed to explain the observed topography. Here we…

The domination of Saturn's low-latitude ionosphere by ring `rain'

Baines, K. H.; Jones, G. H.; Cowley, S. W. H. +5 more

Saturn's ionosphere is produced when the otherwise neutral atmosphere is exposed to a flow of energetic charged particles or solar radiation. At low latitudes the solar radiation should result in a weak planet-wide glow in the infrared, corresponding to the planet's uniform illumination by the Sun. The observed electron density of the low-latitude…

Solar system: Saturn's ring rain

Connerney, Jack

Saturn's atmosphere bears a latent image of its icy rings, implying that electrically charged bits of water ice are being transported along magnetic-field lines of force from sources in the ring plane to the upper atmosphere. See Letter p.193

Solar system: Saturn's tides control Enceladus' plume

Spencer, John

Data obtained by the Cassini spacecraft show that the plume of ice particles at the south pole of Saturn's moon Enceladus is four times brighter when the moon is farthest away from the planet than when it is closest. See Letter p.182