Dramatic plumes, both large and small, spray water ice out from many locations along the famed tiger stripes near the south pole of Saturn’s moon Enceladus in this image released on Feb. 23, 2010. A study published in October 2025 analyzed data from NASA’s Cassini mission and found evidence of previously undetected organic compounds in a plume of ice particles like the ones seen here. The ice particles were ejected from the ocean that lies under Enceladus’ frozen shell. Researchers spotted not only molecules they’ve found before but also new ones that lay a potential path to chemical or biochemical activity.
Learn more about what they discovered.
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute
这张于2010年2月23日发布的图像展示了土卫二（Enceladus）南极著名虎纹裂缝附近的壮观喷发——大小不一的羽状喷流从多个位置喷射出水冰。2025年10月发表的一项研究分析了NASA卡西尼号任务的数据，在类似此处所示的冰粒喷发物中发现了此前未被探测到的有机化合物。喷出的冰粒来自恩克拉多斯冰壳下方的海洋。研究人员不仅确认了此前探测过的分子，还发现了新的分子，为化学或生化活动提供了潜在线索。
图片来源: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute
