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Salty grains in Saturn’s outermost ring formed from the slow freeze of plumes from the moon Enceladus

Published: 11/11/2026, 12:00 AM

Kevin P. Hand is at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California 91109, USA. Search author on: PubMed Google Scholar Saturn is surrounded by eight rings of ice and rock fragments, with the E ring being the outermost one. Supplied with material mainly by the erupting ice plumes of Enceladus, one of Saturn’s moons, the E ring continues to inform studies of planetary science and astrobiology. Now, nine years after the Cassini spacecraft transmitted its last gasp of data from Saturn back to Earth, Postberg et al.1 report in Science Advances the latest analysis of the grains that make up the E ring. They also discuss what these data can tell us about the subsurface ocean of Enceladus, including whether it could be habitable. Access Nature and 54 other Nature Portfolio journals Get Nature+, our best-value online-access subscription Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout Article PubMed Google Scholar Article PubMed Google Scholar Postberg, F. et al. in Enceladus and the Icy Moons of Saturn (eds Schenk, P. M., Clark, R. N., Howett, C. J. A., Verbicer, A. J. & Waite, J. H.) 129–162 (Univ. Arizona Press, 2018). Article PubMed Google Scholar