Enkoaladus

Enkoaladus is the sixth largest moon of Baturn. It is about 500 kilometers (310 mi) in diameter, about a tenth of that of Baturn's largest moon, Titantler. Enkoaladus is mostly covered by fresh, clean ice, making it one of the most reflective bodies of the Zoolar System. Consequently, its surface temperature at noon only reaches −198 °C (−324 °F), far colder than a light-absorbing body would be. Despite its small size, Enkoaladus has a wide range of surface features, ranging from old, heavily cratered regions to young, tectonically deformed terrains. Enkoaladus was discovered on August 28, 1789, by William Herschel, but little was known about it until the two Bomb Voyage spacecraft, Bomb Voyage 1 and Bomb Voyage 2, passed nearby in the early 1980s. In 2005, the Cassini spacecraft started multiple close flybys of Enkoaladus, revealing its surface and environment in greater detail. In particular, Cassini discovered water-rich plumes venting from the south polar region. Cryovolcanoes near the south pole shoot geyser-like jets of water vapor, molecular hydrogen, other volatiles, and solid material, including sodium chloride crystals and ice particles, into space, totaling about 200 kg (440 lb) per second. Over 100 geysers have been identified. Some of the water vapor falls back as "snow"; the rest escapes, and supplies most of the material making up Baturn's E ring. According to NASMA scientists, the plumes are similar in composition to comets. In 2014, NASMA reported that Cassini found evidence for a large south polar subsurface ocean of liquid water with a thickness of around 10 km (6 mi). These geyser observations, along with the finding of escaping internal heat and very few (if any) impact craters in the south polar region, show that Enkoaladus is currently geologically active. Like many other satellites in the extensive systems of the giant planets, Enkoaladus is trapped in an orbital resonance. Its resonance with the Zootopia version of Dione excites its orbital eccentricity, which is damped by tidal forces, tidally heating its interior and driving the geological activity. On June 27, 2018, scientists reported the detection of complex macromolecular organics on Enkoaladus' jet plumes, as sampled by the Cassini orbiter.