No sodium in the vapour plumes of Enceladus

Nicholas M. Schneider (), Matthew H. Burger, Emily L. Schaller, Michael E. Brown, Robert E. Johnson, Jeffrey S. Kargel, Michele K. Dougherty and Nicholas A. Achilleos
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Nicholas M. Schneider: Laboratory for Atmospheric & Space Physics, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80309, USA
Matthew H. Burger: University of Maryland, Baltimore County, and NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland 20771, USA
Emily L. Schaller: Institute for Astronomy, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, Hawaii 96822, USA
Michael E. Brown: Geological & Planetary Sciences, Caltech, Pasadena, California 91125, USA
Robert E. Johnson: Engineering Physics, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia 22904, USA
Jeffrey S. Kargel: Hydrology & Water Resources, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 85721, USA
Michele K. Dougherty: Space & Atmospheric Physics, Imperial College
Nicholas A. Achilleos: Physics & Astronomy, University College

Nature, 2009, vol. 459, issue 7250, 1102-1104

Abstract: An ocean on Enceladus ocean: the sodium test Images from the Cassini spacecraft showed erupting plumes of water vapour and ice particles on Saturn's moon Enceladus, prompting speculation a subsurface ocean might be acting as a source of liquid water. Two groups this week report evidence relevant to the search for this subsurface ocean. The results, at first sight contradictory, leave the ocean a possibility, though still a hypothetical one. Postberg et al. used the Cassini Cosmic Dust Analyser to determine the chemical composition of ice grains in Saturn's E-ring, which consists largely of material from Enceladus. They find a population of E-ring grains rich in sodium salts, which should be possible only if the plumes originate from liquid water. Schneider et al. used Earth-based spectroscopic telescopes to search for sodium emission in the gas plumes erupting from Enceladus and found none. This is inconsistent with a direct supply from a salty ocean and suggests alternative eruption sources such as a deep ocean, a freshwater reservoir or ice. Or if there is a salty reservoir of water, some process not yet determined must be preventing the sodium from escaping into space.

Date: 2009
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DOI: 10.1038/nature08070

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