Thermal anomaly in Enceladus' South Pole subsurface

Alice Le Gall (1) , C. Leyrat (2) , M. A. Janssen (3) , Aurélien Stolzenbach (1) , R. West (3) , R. D. Lorenz (4) , K. Mitchell (3) , P. Ries (3)

1 PLANETO - LATMOS
2 LESIA - Laboratoire d'études spatiales et d'instrumentation en astrophysique
3 JPL - Jet Propulsion Laboratory
4 APL - Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory [Laurel, MD]

On November 6, 2011, during the E16 flyby, the Cassini Radar had a unique opportunity to closely observe Enceladus in both its active and passive modes of operation. The E16 swath aimed at about 66°S, close to the active South polar rifted area. In this paper, we show that the radiometry data collected during this flyby revealed brightness temperatures much higher than expected, pointing to a geothermal anomaly in the subsurface. This anomaly could be indicative of a buried heat source, unless it is due to exotic thermal processes such as the solid-state greenhouse effect.

Domaines: Planétologie et astrophysique de la terre [astro-ph.EP]; Planétologie et astrophysique de la terre [astro-ph.EP]

Alice Le Gall, C. Leyrat, M. A. Janssen, Aurélien Stolzenbach, R. West, et al.. Thermal anomaly in Enceladus' South Pole subsurface. European Planetary Science Congress 2013, Sep 2013, London, United Kingdom. pp.EPSC2013-808. ⟨hal-00922928⟩