News in Brief Planetary Science

Saturn’s tides drive icy moon’s plumes

Enceladus' chilly jets ebb and flow in time with the planet’s tug

PIERCING PLUMES  Icy jets  burst out of the south pole of Saturn’s moon Enceladus. The plumes, shown here in a 2009 image from the Cassini spacecraft, emerge in response to Saturn’s tides.

NASA/JPL, Space Science Institute

By Jessica Shugart

- More than 2 years ago

Icy geysers repeatedly erupting from Saturn’s moon Enceladus owe their Old Faithful-esque regularity to the planet’s tidal pull.