Saturn Moon May Have an Ocean Beneath Its Surface

Posted on June 30 2011 by Beau Herz

Saturn Moon May Have an Ocean Beneath Its Surface

Plumes, both large and small, spray water ice from multiple locations along the famed “tiger stripes” near the south pole of Saturn’s moon Enceladus in this NASA handout photo released on June 22, 2011

The strangest world you’ve probably never heard of is located not that far from Earth. Indeed, it’s part of our own solar system, orbiting friendly, familiar Saturn part of the planet’s giant swarm of 62 moons. Known as Enceladus after the mythological Greek giant, the moon was discovered by astronomer William Herschel in 1789 and is nothing short of a cosmic fantasyland.

Brilliantly white it reflects almost 100% of the light that strikes it, compared with just 12% for our own moon Enceladus is also petite: just 310 miles (500 km) across. Its brilliant reflectivity is owed to its frozen surface, which is forever being swept clean and repaved by sparkling geysers of ice regularly emitted by the moon. So powerful is this so-called cryovolcanism that as Enceladus circles Saturn, it leaves a trail of crystals in its wake like a steamship chugging smoke from its stack. This icy exhaust in turn helps feed Saturn’s elaborate ring system.

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