Ian E. Albert(1), Riley C. Campbell(2), and Alexander E. Giles(3)

Enceladus

Introduction

• Enceladus is about 310 miles in

• This project is looking at Saturn and its interesting set of

sustain life on them.

traditional rings

• Hydrothermal vents release jets of

• Saturn is a gas giant comprised mostly of hydrogen and

• Additionally, a few Saturn’s moons have the capability to

compared to Saturn’s

beneath its icy surface

system, it does have the most complex set of them.

could be considered to have 7 up to more than 30 rings.

• Is considerably more diffused

• Has global ocean of salt water

• While it is not the only planet to have rings in our solar

• The number of rings is subject to how you look at it but

• First observed in 1966

diameter

moons and rings.

helium and has 53 confirmed moons.

E Ring

• Loose collection of debris

water containing amino acids from

primarily consisting of ice

its southern pole

Up: Southern Pole of Enceladus
emitting water/ice
Photo: NASA

orbiting Saturn

• Most of ice fails to escape the

• The ice is from the jets of

moon’s gravity and falls back

Right: Enceladus
Photo: NASA/JPL/Space Science
Institute

• Is the most reflective body in our
solar system

water from Enceladus
E Ring with Enceladus at the center
Photo: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute

• Information collected by Cassini

• Spans 75,000 to 260,000 miles
from Saturn

points to the possibility of life

Cassini Mission

• Launched in 1998
• Collected information about Saturn’s

Phoebe

systems for about 20 years (13 of

• Has a radius of about 3.7

• Orbits in the opposite direction of and on a

those orbiting Saturn)

million to 10 million miles

different axis than other moons around

• First mission to orbit Saturn, land in

• Composed of tiny dust and

Saturn

the outer solar system, and sample
an extraterrestrial ocean
• Revealed a lot of information about
Artist representation of Cassini over
Saturn
Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Phoebe Ring
• Phoebe has a radius of about 66.2 miles

debris of the same

• Very dark and reflects little sunlight

composition as Phoebe that

• Could be a Centaur - Kuiper Belt objects that

is difficult to see except

migrated from outer solar system to inner

Saturn’s moons and rings – including

through infrared

solar system

the possibilities of life on other

• Discovered by Wide-field

• Named after a goddess that Greeks named

objects in our solar system

Artemis and Romans called Diana

Artist representation of the Phoebe Ring
Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Keck

Infrared Survey Explorer
Spacecraft and Spitzer

• Discovered three of the moons

Telescope

discussed in this project: Enceladus,

Iapetus

Phoebe, and Iapetus
• Third largest moon
• Composed of ¾ ice and ¼ rock

• Pandora is 88,000 miles away from Saturn
while Prometheus is 87,000 miles away

o This means the temperature cycle is

• Pandora disrupts the ring while

very long

(1) Mathematics and Statistics Department
(2) (3) Geography, Geology, and Environment Department

• While Cassini’s mission is over, there is still much more to

two moons

from Phoebe

• Named after the Greek god Iapetus

them.

• The F-Ring is in-between the orbit of the

• Iapetus’ rotation is longer than 79 days

mile high chain of mountains

our solar system that could house some form of life on

Pandora

• Is believed to collect space particles

References:
1) https://solarsystem.nasa.gov
2) https://www.sciencedirect.com

various planetary properties.
• Even excluding Enceladus, there are multiple places in

• A pair of moons: Prometheus and

sun

• Iapetus has an equatorial ridge of a 6

• Saturn provides us with ample opportunities to study

F Ring and Shepherd Moons

• Always has the same face towards the

Iapetus
Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute

Conclusion

Phoebe
Image: NASA/JPL

F Ring between the Shepherd Moons, Prometheus and
Pandora
Image: NASA/Kobe University

Prometheus maintains it
• F-Ring first observed by the Pioneer 11
team and Pandora and Prometheus first
observed by the Voyager 1.

learn about Saturn from the data it has recorded.
• The rings are relatively young in age and are replenished
by their nearby moons.
• The particles making up the rings vary in size from grains
of sand to 10-15 meters wide
• The rings probably form by destruction of a moon,
moons that were unable to form, or by materials lost by
the inner moons.

Project done for Dr. Mukherjee’s Space Science class PHYS 317-88,89