Enceladus’ Tiger Stripes Create Long-Lived Eruptions

Space





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Modeling has provided an explanation for how these geysers survive on Enceladus. NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute/Planetary Science Institute

The discovery of volcanic eruptions on Saturn’s moon Enceladus tantalised astronomers with questions of how these eruptions occur, and whether they are a semi-permanent phenomenon or something we were lucky to see. New research offers a theory, and indicates that the moon’s distinctive “tiger stripes” can sustain eruptions over geological timespans.