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Planetary science

Inside Enceladus

Nature volume 445, pages 376–377 (2007)Cite this article

Chemical analysis of a plume emanating from near the south pole of Enceladus indicates that the interior of this saturnian moon is hot. Could it have been hot enough for complex organic molecules to be made?

This activity offers planetary scientists the first real possibility in the Solar System of studying cryovolcanism — volcano-like activity involving ices, rather than the molten silicates of earthly volcanoes — as it happens. The plume is also an unprecedented opportunity for direct analysis, with Cassini's instruments, of material that was in the interior of an icy satellite only minutes earlier. Of the issues to be resolved on Enceladus, one of the most interesting is that of the moon's internal temperature distribution. This controls its potential for sustaining liquid water, the chemistry that is possible, and even the potential suitability of the moon as a habitat for life.

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Figure 1: Hot cracks.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Southwest Research Institute, 1050 Walnut Street, Boulder, 80302, Colorado, USA

    John Spencer

  2. Denver Museum of Nature & Science, 2001 Colorado Boulevard, Denver, 80205, Colorado, USA

    David Grinspoon

Authors
  1. John Spencer
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  2. David Grinspoon
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Spencer, J., Grinspoon, D. Inside Enceladus. Nature 445, 376–377 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1038/445376b

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