Sources of Saturn Moon's Supersonic Water Jets Revealed

from National Geographic News

Jets of water vapor blasting out of Saturn's moon Enceladus at supersonic speeds are coming from vents each about the size of a professional sports stadium, a new study says.

Scientists first saw a plume of water vapor and dust shooting from the moon's south pole in 2005.

Research later determined that the water geysers are gushing out at about 1,000 miles an hour from a series of 100-mile-long fissures dubbed tiger stripes. The new finding indicates that the gas and dust are escaping from relatively small vents along those fissures.