Icy plumes from Saturn’s moon Enceladus contain phosphorus, part of the biochemistry of life—the first time the element has been found in a liquid environment beyond Earth.
Enceladus
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What Methane Jets Might Tell Us About Enceladus
Plumes on Saturn’s moon Enceladus are dumping methane into space—fast. Something must be resupplying the organic compound.
Posted inFeatures
Marine Science Goes to Space
Space and ocean scientists take a splash course in multidisciplinary science to chart our solar system’s ocean worlds.
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Mission Could Lasso Amino Acids from the Icy Plumes of Enceladus
If geysers from Saturn’s moon Enceladus contain amino acids, new research shows that a spacecraft could collect them with signatures of possible life preserved.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Dynamics of Ocean Worlds Likely Controlled by Their Rotation
New simulations suggest that subsurface oceans on icy moons with small natural Rossby numbers may be dominated by rotational effects.
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On Thin Ice: Tiger Stripes on Enceladus
Saturn’s moon Enceladus boasts fierce tiger stripes around its south pole, a mystery that has long puzzled scientists. New research explores the stripes by examining how the moon’s ice breaks.
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Electron Density near Enceladus Shows Orbital Variation
The electron density peaks well after the activity of the moon’s distinctive south polar ice plume reaches its maximum, but the cause of the lag remains puzzling.
Posted inEditors' Highlights
The Freshest Mineral Water in the Solar System
The water-rich plumes erupting from Saturn’s moon Enceladus show the chemical signs of water-rock interactions deep within the moon, further implicating Enceladus as a potential habitat for life.
Posted inEditors' Vox
Cassini’s Legacy in Print
With over 750 papers published in AGU journals based on Cassini-Huygens mission data, three editors select some of the most noteworthy.