Two scientists from the Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) were members of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) team that observed a massive cloud of water vapor protruding from the surface of Saturn’s moon Enceladus, extending over 9,000 km (a distance comparable to the distance between the United States and Japan). Made during NASA’s JWST Cycle 1, this remarkable discovery was made by SwRI’s Dr. Christopher Glein was granted Cycle 2 permission to study both the smoke and important chemical compounds at the surface to better understand the possible habitability of this oceanic celestial body.

The Cassini spacecraft detected the presence of a subterranean ocean of liquid water on Enceladus during an extensive 13-year study of the Saturn system. The spacecraft analyzed samples as ice grains and water vapor spewing into space from cracks in the moon’s icy surface.

“Enceladus is one of the most dynamic objects in the Solar System and a primary target for the search for life beyond Earth,” said Glenn, a leading expert on extraterrestrial oceanography. He is a co-author of a recently accepted article. Nature Astronomy . “For years since NASA’s Cassini spacecraft first spotted Enceladus, we’ve been amazed at what has happened on this unusual moon.”

Again, recent observations with the Webb Near Infrared Spectrograph yielded remarkable results.

“When I looked at the data, I thought I was wrong at first, it was shocking to see a cloud larger than 20 times the diameter of the moon,” said Jeronimo Villanueva of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. and lead author of the last article. “The feather extends far beyond what we can imagine.”

Webb’s sensitivity reveals a new story about Enceladus and how it supplies water to the entire system and rings of Saturn. As Enceladus orbits the gas giant in just 33 hours, the moon spews water and leaves behind an almost doughnut-like halo. Not only is the plume huge, but the water also spills out into Saturn’s dense E-ring. JWST data shows that about 30 percent of the water stays in the Moon’s trail, while the other 70 percent escapes to feed the rest of Saturn’s system.

“Webb’s observations clearly show for the first time how the Moon’s water vapor plumes play a role in torus formation,” said Dr Silvia Protopapa from SwRI, who specializes in analyzing the composition of icy bodies on the Sun. The system also included in the Cycle 1 team. I’m thrilled to be part of the 2nd Cycle team as we begin our search for new habitable signs and feather activity on Enceladus.”

Revived by the incredible discoveries Webb made during his first glimpse of Enceladus, Glenn leads the same team that will observe Enceladus again from JWST next year.

“We will be looking for organic signatures and specific indicators of habitability, such as hydrogen peroxide,” said Glain. “Hydrogen peroxide is particularly interesting because it can provide a much more potent source of metabolic energy than we’ve previously described. Cassini didn’t give us a clear answer about the presence of such strong oxidizers on Enceladus.”

The new observations will provide the best remote capability to search for surface habitability indicators, increasing the signal-to-noise ratio by up to 10 times compared to Cycle 1.

“Webb could serve as a bridge between Cassini and the proposed life-search mission, Orbilander,” Glein said. Said. “After cycle 2, we will have a better idea of ​​whether ocean samples are common on the surface of Enceladus, not just near the south pole. These follow-up observations may help us determine whether Orbilander will be able to access ocean samples near the equator, which may help us return to Enceladus sooner.” Source