The water vapor plumes of Enceladus

Abstract

The Cassini E3, E5, and E7 encounters with Enceladus probed the south polar plumes, where the Ion and Neutral Mass Spectrometer (INMS) measured neutral H2O molecular densities up to ∼109 cm-3. We have constructed a physical model for the expected water density in the plumes, based on supersonic radial outflow from one or more of the surface vents. We apply this model to possible surface sources of water vapor associated with the multiple jets observed in the visible dust plumes. Our model predictions fit well with the INMS measurements of neutral H2O density along the E3, E5, and E7 trajectories. The fit is optimized by values of outflow velocity in the range ∼550-750 m/s and values of total source rate in the range ∼1.5 - 3.5 × 1028 H2O molecules/s. The model can be extended to incorporate the jet features within the plume observed during the E7 encounter. Copyright © 2011 by the American Geophysical Union.