Enceladus
Moon· orbits Saturn
Enceladus is a small, brilliant-white moon of Saturn that jets plumes of water vapour and ice from a subsurface ocean through 'tiger stripe' fractures at its south pole, feeding Saturn's E ring.
Open in 3D viewSee Enceladus in the live, interactive 3D map
Key facts
Mass
1.08 × 10²⁰ kg
0.00147 Moon masses
Radius
252 km
15% of our Moon's radius
Surface gravity
0.113 m/s²
1% of Earth's
Day length
32.89 hours
Orbit around Saturn
1.37 Earth days
Science
Physical
- Mass
- 1.08 × 10²⁰ kg · 0.00147 Moon masses
- Radius
- 252 km · 15% of our Moon's radius
- Density
- 1,610 kg/m³ · 1.6× water
- Surface gravity
- 0.113 m/s² · 1% of Earth's
- Escape velocity
- 239 m/s · 2% of Earth's
Orbit around Saturn
- Distance from Saturn
- 4,147,133 km
- Orbital period
- 32.89 hours
- Eccentricity
- 0.005
- Inclination
- 0.00 °
Rotation
- Rotation period
- 32.89 hours
- Tidal locking
- Tidally locked to its parent
Temperature
- Mean
- 75 K (-198 °C)
Composition
- Bulk composition
- A water-ice surface over a global subsurface ocean and a rocky core; its plumes carry water vapour, salts and organic molecules.
Radiation & temperature
- Insolation
- 0.0112 S⊕ · 1% of the sunlight Earth receives
- Bond albedo
- 0.81 · reflects 81% of incoming sunlight
- Equilibrium temperature
- 60 K (-213 °C)
- Measured mean temperature
- 75 K (-198 °C)
- Greenhouse warming
- +15 K
Discovery & history
- Discovered
- August 28, 1789
- By
- William Herschel
- Method
- Visual discovery (telescopic)
- Name
- Enceladus, one of the Giants of Greek myth.
Herschel found the brilliantly white Enceladus in 1789. It stunned scientists when the Cassini orbiter revealed towering geysers of water vapour and ice jetting from 'tiger-stripe' fractures at its south pole — venting from a global subsurface ocean, making it a prime place to search for life.
Images
Images from open archives · credit shown per image