Gallery: Up Close With Enceladus' Magnificent and Strange Plumes

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    enceladus-plasma

    Saturn’s moon Enceladus is a strange place. The cold, tiny moon in the far reaches of the solar system is an unlikely location for liquid water. Yet scientists have not only discovered that Enceladus contains water, it actually shoots magnificent plumes of it out into space. These plumes and their origin remain a major mystery for researchers studying the moon and its environment. Where is the source of their liquid water and what causes them to fire out into space? Here, Wired takes a closer look at the plumes in some of our favorite images of our favorite Saturnian moon. __Above:__ Plasma Plumes ------------- New evidence from the Cassini mission, currently in orbit around the ringed planet, suggests an unexpected property for the plumes: They are the source of a complex form of plasma around Saturn. Plasma – a state of matter similar to a gas made partially of ionized particles – is the most common form of matter in the universe. Dusty plasmas, like those recently observed around Saturn, have small nano-sized particles suspended in them, producing completely different behavior from ordinary plasmas. The water being ejected from Enceladus’ plumes is apparently forming this dusky plasma when it hits Saturn’s magnetic field. Researchers are eager to study the material since they rarely have an opportunity to see it up close in interplanetary space. The results appear in two papers in this month's *Journal of Geophysical Research Space Physics*. *NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute*
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    This image was taken in 2008 at "high phase," or a sun-moon-spacecraft angle of 159 degrees, so that sunlight would show off the plumes. The left side of the moon is lit by the sun, while the right side is dimly lit by Saturn. *NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute*
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    The plume can be seen better when backlit by direct sunlight, as in this image taken in 2008. *NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute*
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    In this image from 2009, the face of Enceladus is lit by sunlight reflected off Saturn while the plumes are lit by the sun from almost directly behind. *NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute*
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    In this image, more than 30 jets can be seen, and more than 20 of them had not been identified before Cassini captured this image in 2009. *NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute*
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    This image was processed with color coding to illuminate the full extent of the plume, the edges of which are too faint to see well in most images. *NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute*
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    Enceladus appears to hover beneath Saturn's rings in this image from 2006. *NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute*
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    Enceladus and its sister moon Tethys are shown in front of Saturn's faint E ring, lit by sunlight in this image from 2006. *NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute*
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