Dougherty MK, Khurana KK, Neubauer FM, Russell CT, Saur J, Leisner JS, Burton ME. Identification of a Dynamic Atmosphere at Enceladus with the Cassini Magnetometer.
Science 2006;
311:1406-9. [PMID:
16527966 DOI:
10.1126/science.1120985]
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Abstract
The Cassini magnetometer has detected the interaction of the magnetospheric plasma of Saturn with an atmospheric plume at the icy moon Enceladus. This unanticipated finding, made on a distant flyby, was subsequently confirmed during two follow-on flybys, one very close to Enceladus. The magnetometer data are consistent with local outgassing activity via a plume from the surface of the moon near its south pole, as confirmed by other Cassini instruments.
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