Enceladus

In this chapter, we review in detail Enceladus. The most fascinating of all the ocean worlds in our Solar System due to the presence of towering plumes erupting from its south pole, spewing icy plumes into space. These plumes, discovered by NASA's Cassini spacecraft, make up Saturn’s E ring as well as provide compelling evidence of a subsurface ocean lurking beneath Enceladus's icy crust. We provide an in-depth analysis on Cassini’s numerous flybys of the moon which allowed the spacecraft to sample the plumes and confirm that the subsurface ocean is in contact with minerals and organic compounds. We also provide insights into Enceladus's dynamic surface features and complex geological processes, and especially, a network of fractures, known as "tiger stripes," which are sites of intense geological activity. We end the chapter by entertaining the possibility of microbial lifeforms arising within this habitable environment and their potential similarity with the ones found in hydrothermal vents at the bottom of Earth’s oceans.