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A low-density ocean inside Titan inferred from Cassini data
Goossens, Sander; van Noort, Bob; Mateo, Alfonso +2 more
The Cassini mission has provided measurements of the gravity of several moons of Saturn as well as an estimate of the tidal response, which is expressed as the degree 2 Love number k2 of its largest moon, Titan. The first estimates of Titan's Love number were larger than pre-Cassini expectations. Interior modelling suggested it may be e…
A diffuse core in Saturn revealed by ring seismology
Fuller, Jim; Mankovich, Christopher R.
The best constraints on the internal structures of giant planets have historically originated from measurements of their gravity fields1-3. These data are inherently mostly sensitive to a planet's outer regions, stymieing efforts to measure the mass and compactness of the cores of Jupiter2,4,5 and Saturn6,7. Howeve…
Bayesian analysis of Enceladus's plume data to assess methanogenesis
Affholder, Antonin; Guyot, François; Sauterey, Boris +2 more
Observations from NASA's Cassini spacecraft established that Saturn's moon Enceladus has an internal liquid ocean. Analysis of a plume of ocean material ejected into space suggests that alkaline hydrothermal vents are present on Enceladus's seafloor. On Earth, such deep-sea vents harbour microbial ecosystems rich in methanogenic archaea. Here we u…
A global geomorphologic map of Saturn's moon Titan
Williams, D. A.; Hayes, A. G.; Wall, S. D. +10 more
Titan has an active methane-based hydrologic cycle1 that has shaped a complex geologic landscape2, making its surface one of most geologically diverse in the Solar System. Despite the differences in materials, temperatures and gravity fields between Earth and Titan, many of their surface features are similar and can be interp…
Powering prolonged hydrothermal activity inside Enceladus
Postberg, Frank; Sotin, Christophe; Čadek, Ondřej +4 more
Geophysical data from the Cassini spacecraft imply the presence of a global ocean underneath the ice shell of Enceladus1, only a few kilometres below the surface in the South Polar Terrain2-4. Chemical analyses indicate that the ocean is salty5 and is fed by ongoing hydrothermal activity6-8. In order to …
Disruption of Saturn's quasi-periodic equatorial oscillation by the great northern storm
Fletcher, Leigh N.; Irwin, Patrick G. J.; Flasar, F. Michael +7 more
The equatorial middle atmospheres of the Earth1, Jupiter2 and Saturn3,4 all exhibit a remarkably similar phenomenon—a vertical, cyclic pattern of alternating temperatures and zonal (east-west) wind regimes that propagate slowly downwards with a well-defined multi-year period. Earth's quasi-biennial oscillation (QBO…
Thermally anomalous features in the subsurface of Enceladus's south polar terrain
Sotin, C.; Lorenz, R. D.; West, R. D. +15 more
Saturn's moon Enceladus is an active world. In 2005, the Cassini spacecraft witnessed for the first time water-rich jets venting from four anomalously warm fractures (called sulci) near its south pole1,2. Since then, several observations have provided evidence that the source of the material ejected from Enceladus is a large underground…
The evolution of Saturn's radiation belts modulated by changes in radial diffusion
Krupp, N.; Roussos, E.; Paranicas, C. +2 more
Globally magnetized planets, such as the Earth1 and Saturn2, are surrounded by radiation belts of protons and electrons with kinetic energies well into the million electronvolt range. The Earth's proton belt is supplied locally from galactic cosmic rays interacting with the atmosphere3, as well as from slow inward …
Titan: Bubbles in focus
Hanley, Jennifer
The seabed of Ligeia Mare, a hydrocarbon sea at the north pole of Titan, may be a favourable place for the separation of nitrogen and the creation of bubbles that then buoyantly rise to the sea's surface.
Enceladus: Deep implications for H2
Woods, Paul