Cassini Dust Measurements at Enceladus and Implications for the Origin of the E Ring

• DOI: 10.1126/science.1121375
• Publication Date: 2006-03-09T21:58:02Z
• Authors: Frank Spahn; Jürgen Schmidt; Nicole Albers; Marcel Hörning; Martin Makuch; Martin Seiß; Sascha Kempf; Ralf Srama; Valeri Dikarev; Stefan Helfert; Georg Moragas-Klo...; Alexander V. Krivov; Miodrag Sremčević; Anthony J. Tuzzolino; Thanasis Economou; Eberhard Grün
• Keywords: Enceladus; Production rate; Icy moon

During Cassini's close flyby of Enceladus on 14 July 2005, the High Rate Detector Cosmic Dust Analyzer registered micron-sized dust particles enveloping this satellite. The impact rate peaked about 1 minute before closest approach spacecraft to moon. This asymmetric signature is consistent with a locally enhanced production in south polar region Enceladus. Other Cassini experiments revealed evidence for geophysical activities near Enceladus' pole: high surface temperature and release water gas. Production or related these processes may provide dominant source Saturn's E ring.