WATCH: Saturn’s rings appear to glow in a detailed new image from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope.
, a Saturn moon sometimes referred to as an"ocean world" because of its makeup and distinctively icy outer shell.
When they announced that discovery, NASA scientists said the plume, extending about 6,000 miles out from the moon's south pole and toward Saturn's rings, was especially interesting because of the role it may play in feeding the broader Saturnian water system.
An image from NASA's James Webb Space Telescope's NIRSpec shows a water vapor plume jetting from the southern pole of Saturn's moon Enceladus, extending out more than 20 times the size of the moon itself. The inset, an image from the Cassini orbiter, emphasizes how small Enceladus appears in the Webb image compared to the water plume.
The latest image was taken as the Webb telescope carried out a wider"guaranteed time observation program," which included several other"very deep exposures of Saturn" meant to test the telescope's ability to detect faint moons circling around the planet and its rings, according to NASA. "Any newly discovered moons could help scientists put together a more complete picture of the current system of Saturn, as well as its past," the agency said. , which are not shown in the image of Saturn revealed on Friday, will hopefully allow researchers to investigate and study some of the planet's fainter and thinner rings, too. The rings consist of rocky and icy fragments, some of which are smaller than a grain of sand.
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