All About Saturn

Strongest evidence yet indicates Enceladus hiding saltwater ocean

This image shows icy spray spewing from Saturn's moon, Enceladus. Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute

(PhysOrg.com) -- Samples of icy spray shooting from Saturn's moon Enceladus collected during Cassini spacecraft flybys show the strongest evidence yet for the existence of a large-scale, subterranean saltwater ocean, says a new international study led by the University of Heidelberg and involving the University of Colorado Boulder.

The new discovery was made during the Cassini-Huygens mission to Saturn , a collaboration of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. Launched in 1997, the mission spacecraft arrived at the Saturn system in 2004 and has been touring the giant ringed planet and its vast moon system ever since.

The plumes shooting water vapor and tiny grains of ice into space were originally discovered emanating from Enceladus -- one of 19 known moons of Saturn -- by the Cassini spacecraft in 2005. The plumes were originating from the so-called "tiger stripe" surface fractures at the moon's south pole and apparently have created the material for the faint E Ring that traces the orbit of Enceladus around Saturn.

During three of Cassini's passes through the plume in 2008 and 2009, the Cosmic Dust Analyser, or CDA, on board measured the composition of freshly ejected plume grains. The icy particles hit the detector's target at speeds of up to 11 miles per second, instantly vaporizing them. The CDA separated the constituents of the resulting vapor clouds, allowing scientists to analyze them.

The study shows the ice grains found further out from Enceladus are relatively small and mostly ice-poor, closely matching the composition of the E Ring. Closer to the moon, however, the Cassini observations indicate that relatively large, salt-rich grains dominate.

Dramatic plumes, both large and small, spray water ice out from many locations along the famed "tiger stripes" near the south pole of Saturn's moon Enceladus. The tiger stripes are fissures that spray icy particles, water vapor and organic compounds.

Tracy's Astro Salon: Saturn turns Direct: On all Relationships

I have Saturn on my Sun so I may be a bit more in tune with Saturn’s movement, but having said that I still believe people feel Saturn’s retrograde and directional moves whether they know it or not. Saturn turns retrograde once a year. When Saturn turned retrograde on January 26 it put us all on notice that we needed to retool, rebuild and reassess our relationships. Why relationships? Because Saturn is in the middle of his 2 year journey through the sign of Libra. Libra is the justice, the scales, finding balance. And you can’t find balance unless you have a partner on the other side. Libra is the half way mark of the zodiac. On the other side of Libra is Aries. In Aries we are all about ‘number one’. During Aries we learn how to go out into the world alone, how to break ground and how to lead. By the time we get to Libra we are ready to see who is on the other side of the table drinking Starbucks with us. “Hey, how long have you been here?” Of course, the human being is funny. Sometimes we are alone, sometimes we are married, sometimes we are divorced, widowed, humans are always in some stage of entanglement. But Libra does not care because what is important is not the title of that person drinking Starbucks, (husband, wife) what is important that we are ‘relating.’ Libra is the act of relationships. All of them. Yes, it is easy to point out a spouse and we do a lot of work on them and they do work on us but in truth, Libra just cares that we are relating. Ever since 2010 when Saturn went into Libra we have been working out our relationships. Who are we in relationship at work? Who are we in relationship with our family? Who are we in relationship with our neighbors? Who are we in relationship with our friends? When Saturn turns direct it is an opportunity to focus on those lessons in a real concrete manner. Perhaps after Saturn turns direct on Sunday we will speak to people whom we have felt (for a long time) have not been carrying their share of work. We will point out the disparity. Or perhaps someone will speak to us and tell us we need to do more work. We may disengage from projects that have been too all encompassing and have taken us away from our ‘relating’. Or we may look at our partner and say, “Let’s build on this now” and come up with a great strategy and plan for our future.

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The Guardian: no.1-82, Mar. 12-June 15, 1713