Identification of a Dynamic Atmosphere at Enceladus with the Cassini Magnetometer

• Published in: Science
• Main Authors: Dougherty, M. K., Khurana, K. K., Neubauer, F. M., Russell, C. T., Saur, J., Leisner, J. S., Burton, M. E.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) 2006
• Subjects: South Pole; South pole
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.1120985; https://www.science.org/doi/pdf/10.1126/science.1120985

The Cassini magnetometer has detected the interaction of the magnetospheric plasma of Saturn with an atmospheric plume at the icy moon Enceladus. This unanticipated finding, made on a distant flyby, was subsequently confirmed during two follow-on flybys, one very close to Enceladus. The magnetometer data are consistent with local outgassing activity via a plume from the surface of the moon near its south pole, as confirmed by other Cassini instruments.