Few moons in the solar system engender so much excitement as Saturn’s tiny Enceladus. It likely harbors a liquid water ocean beneath a crust of ice. That crust isn’t thick enough in some places to completely seal away that liquid and jets of ice were spotted by NASA’s Cassini orbiter during its tenure spinning around Saturn. Enceladus' icy crust isn't the same across the whole moon, either. The southern polar region is covered in cracks dubbed "tiger stripes" and appears much younger than the rest of the moon. What causes this stark difference across such a small object?
First, we should take a close look at Enceladus. Its radius is a mere 156 miles (252 kilometers). Compare that to Earth's moon that is over 670 miles (1,079 kilometers) and we're talking a pretty tiny moon. It orbits at a distance 148,000 miles (238,000 kilometers). Our moon is, on average, 238,900 ...
