News in Brief Planetary Science

Saturn moon’s geysers draw water from subsurface sea

Study suggests space probes can directly sample an extraterrestrial ocean

SEA SPRAY  Water from a subsurface sea on Enceladus blasts through cracks in the moon’s icy shell, in a picture taken by the Cassini spacecraft. 

JPL-Caltech/NASA, SSI

By Christopher Crockett

- More than 2 years ago

The seas of Saturn’s moon Enceladus are blasting into space.

Saltwater-spewing geysers on Enceladus’ icy surface — 101 of them — appear to connect to the moon’s warm subsurface ocean, scientists report July 28 in two new studies in the Astronomical Journal.