The Surprising, Humid Atmosphere at Enceladus

Details The Surprising, Humid Atmosphere at Enceladus The Surprising, Humid Atmosphere at Enceladus

Dec 2005

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2005agufm.p32a..08b&link_type=abstract

American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2005, abstract #P32A-08

Physics

5737 Magnetospheres (2756), 5780 Tori And Exospheres, 6280 Saturnian Satellites, 7837 Neutral Particles (2151), 7849 Plasma Interactions With Dust And Aerosols (2461)

Scientific paper

Perhaps the most unexpected discovery from the Cassini spacecraft has been the detection of an atmosphere at Saturn's moon Enceladus. The icy body is too small to retain an atmosphere or exosphere, indicating that gas must be supplied by currently active processes. Observations from many instruments have helped to clarify the spatial distribution of this atmosphere and its source on the surface (Sources: Various Cassini press releases):
ISS (Imaging Science Subsystem) has observed a young surface with evidence of recent tectonic activity in the southern hemisphere. Cracks and fissures on the surface are as much as 25 K warmer than the surrounding areas (temperatures measured by the Composite Infrared Spectrometer (CIRS)). Global temperature maps made by CIRS show that the south polar region is significantly warmer than predictions based on solar heating models, indicating substantial internal heat escaping at this region. The Ion Neutral Mass Spectrometer (INMS) and Cosmic Dust Analyzer (CDA) measured peaks in water vapor and ice grains, respectively, during a flyby of Enceladus' south pole.
These observations all point to a source of water streaming from the south polar region of Enceladus. We use a three dimensional neutral gas model (described in Burger, Ph. D. Thesis, University of Colorado, 2003) to understand the distribution of water and its dissociation products in the region surrounding Enceladus. We estimate the loss rate of water using assumptions for the size and temperature of the source region on the surface and estimate the relative abundances of H2O, O2, O, and OH in Enceladus' escaping atmosphere and supply rates of neutrals into Saturn's magnetosphere.

Affiliated with

Also associated with

No associations

Rating

The Surprising, Humid Atmosphere at Enceladus does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.

If you have personal experience with The Surprising, Humid Atmosphere at Enceladus, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and The Surprising, Humid Atmosphere at Enceladus will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

Comments { 0 }

Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-749451