On Icy Enceladus, Expansion Cracks Let Inner Ocean Boil Out

Andy Fell — March 23, 2022 - 4:30pm

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 water per second.

Explaining the Tiger Stripes of Enceladus

Andy Fell — December 09, 2019 - 11:53am

Saturn’s tiny, frozen moon Enceladus is a strange place. Just 300 miles across, the moon is thought to have an outer shell of ice covering a global ocean 20 miles deep, encasing a rocky core. Slashed across Enceladus’ south pole are four straight, parallel fissures or “tiger stripes” from which water erupts. These fissures aren’t quite like anything else in the solar system.

Enceladus Content

On Icy Enceladus, Expansion Cracks Let Inner Ocean Boil Out

Explaining the Tiger Stripes of Enceladus