Sodium salts in E-ring ice grains from an ocean below the surface of Enceladus
- F. Postberg, S. Kempf, R. Srama
- GeologyNature
- 25 June 2009
The identification of a population of E-ring grains that are rich in sodium salts, which can arise only if the plumes originate from liquid water, and the abundance of various salt components in these particles exhibit a compelling similarity to the predicted composition of a subsurface Enceladus ocean in contact with its rock core.
A salt-water reservoir as the source of a compositionally stratified plume on Enceladus
- F. Postberg, J. Schmidt, J. Hillier, S. Kempf, R. Srama
- Environmental Science, GeologyNature
- 30 June 2011
Whereas previous Cassini observations were compatible with a variety of plume formation mechanisms, these data eliminate or severely constrain non-liquid models and strongly imply that a salt-water reservoir with a large evaporating surface provides nearly all of the matter in the plume.
Ongoing hydrothermal activities within Enceladus
- H. Hsu, F. Postberg, R. Srama
- Geology, PhysicsNature
- 12 March 2015
Analysis of silicon-rich, nanometre-sized dust particles (so-called stream particles) that stand out from the water-ice-dominated objects characteristic of Saturn indicate ongoing high-temperature (>90 °C) hydrothermal reactions associated with global-scale geothermal activity that quickly transports hydroThermal products from the ocean floor at a depth of at least 40 kilometres up to the plume of Enceladus.
The E ring in the vicinity of Enceladus - I. Spatial distribution and properties of the ring particles
- S. Kempf, U. Beckmann, E. Grün
- Physics, Geology
- 1 February 2008
The Cassini Cosmic Dust Analyzer
The Cassini-Huygens Cosmic Dust Analyzer (CDA) is intended to provide direct observations of dust grains with masses between 10−19 and 10−9 kg in interplanetary space and in the jovian and saturnian…
A permanent, asymmetric dust cloud around the Moon
- M. Horányi, J. Szalay, Z. Sternovsky
- Physics, GeologyNature
- 18 June 2015
Observations of a permanent, asymmetric dust cloud around the Moon, caused by impacts of high-speed cometary dust particles on eccentric orbits, as opposed to particles of asteroidal origin following near-circular paths striking the Moon at lower speeds are reported.
Cassini Dust Measurements at Enceladus and Implications for the Origin of the E Ring
- F. Spahn, Jürgen Schmidt, E. Grün
- Physics, GeologyScience
- 10 March 2006
During Cassini's close flyby of Enceladus on 14 July 2005, the High Rate Detector of the Cosmic Dust Analyzer registered micron-sized dust particles enveloping this satellite; this asymmetric signature is consistent with a locally enhanced dust production in the south polar region of Encesladus.
Macromolecular organic compounds from the depths of Enceladus
- F. Postberg, N. Khawaja, J. Waite
- Environmental ScienceNature
- 13 April 2018
The detection of complex organic molecules with masses higher than 200 atomic mass units in ice grains emitted from Enceladus indicates the presence of a thin organic-rich layer on top of the moon’s subsurface ocean.
South-north and radial traverses through the interplanetary dust cloud
- E. Grün, P. Staubach, G. Schwehm
- Physics, Geology
- 1 October 1997
Identical in situ dust detectors are flown on board the Galileo and Ulysses spacecraft. They record impacts of micrometeoroids in the ecliptic plane at heliocentric distances from 0.7 to 5.4 AU and…
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