Utah FORGE Logo



Let’s  Connect

For project, contracts and operations, contact Joseph Moore:
utahforge@utah.edu

For Modeling and Simulation Forum information:
utahforge-modeling@utah.edu

For general information, outreach activities and communications:
utahforge-info@utah.edu

For information regarding Solicitations and funding opportunities:
utahforgesolicitations@utah.edu

University of Utah
Energy & Geoscience Institute
423 Wakara Way, Suite 300
Salt Lake City, UT 84108
Phone: (801) 581-5126

Department of Energy Logo

Did you know... there is a geyser on one of Saturn's moons?

And not just one, but over 100 huge water-vapor geysers occur at the south pole of Saturn’s moon Enceladus. They are believed to come from an ocean beneath the moon’s outer ice crust in which water comes to the surface through cracks in the ice that are called tiger stripes. Due to Enceladus’ tenuous atmosphere, the water vapor re-freezes and forms ice particles that fall back down to the moon’s surface, covering it in fresh ice that makes Enceladus the brightest object amongst all the planets.

More tantalizing is the scale of geysering. The plumes are the tallest known anywhere in the solar system, rising tens of kilometers above the surface of the moon. They are now known to be the source of Saturn’s E-ring, and the eruptions might be triggered by tidal forces. Remarkably, Enceladus is only about 500 km in diameter. The photographs from the Cassini mission from 2006 to 2017 have provided amazing insights about extraordinary geological activity on this small icy moon.

https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/missions/cassini/science/enceladus/

https://www.space.com/32412-saturn-moon-enceladus-geysers-mystery-mechanism.html

Geyser plumes on Enceladus (Courtesy NASA/JPL-Caltech).  https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/resources/806/bursting-at-the-seams-the-geyser-basin-of-enceladus/

Enceladus geysers feed Saturn’s E-ring (Courtesy NASA/JPL-Caltech). https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/images/ghostly-fingers-of-enceladus

Latest News

A Look Back at 2023

A Look Back at 2023

With the first few days of 2024 under our belt, we’ve taken a moment to reflect on everything that Utah FORGE accomplished during the past year. There’s a lot to be proud of.

read more

Utah FORGE

Advancing innovative technologies to unlock Earth’s limitless geothermal energy.