Enceladus: Be careful when walking on ice

Anyone landing on Saturn’s icy moon Enceladus, for example to explore the ocean at its depth, had better be careful: Ice quakes could be part of everyday life on the surface of the 500-kilometer-diameter moon. Researchers are drawing attention to this in a new study.

The culprit is the massive tidal forces caused by Saturn and the planet’s other, larger moons – much like the moon on Earth. These tidal movements, on the plus side, warm its interior so that life could possibly arise there. But the...