new blog and new video of a possible snow-covered area on Enceladus. Of course,
the snow is really fine particles falling out from the massive plumes . . . !

http://stereomoons.blogspot.com
http://www.youtube.com/user/galsat400?feat...u/0/dYHuPlwWJIQ

sorry for the short report from the Enceladus wrkshop but gotta head home tonite

...Alright, "Poul", now you gotta write "The Snows Of Enceladus"...I wanna read it!

Paul, the concerns about Apollo astronauts getting swallowed up by Moon dust turned out to be unfounded. But given the unconsolidated nature of this stuff and the low gravity on Enceladus (which wouldn't tend to pack the stuff with depth), would a lander (or hapless astronaut) just sink right in to Enceladus' surface and get swallowed up by snow, as though it were quicksand? Could our hypothetical astronaut "swim" out?

We've been thinking about that and will post more in a few days. But think of the consistency of ash after a campfires been going all night. It would probably hold up to some degree . . . More later

A large number of boulders don't seem to have a problem staying "afloat." I suspect a lander wouldn't either. Though I don't know what the difference in size would do to affect the outcome.

Worst case scenario, I would imagine astronauts could just wear snowshoes... Similarly a lander may need to have wider landing pads to spread its weight out, like a boulder as Hungry4info mentioned.

Sounds like an episode of Dr Who

Does anyone know offhand the 'R' value of similarly fluffy snow versus consolidated ice? Would this 'help' what ever heat source inside Enceladus to concentrate it's effects in the plume region?

Interesting idea - but the vacuum just above that fluffy snow is the best insulator there is. I'm not sure whether the presence of the snow (or not) would affect things greatly.

Andy

Actually, the surface can radiate into the vacuum of space fairly efficiently, so the insulating properties of the regolith can be quite important in determining temperatures below the surface- a deep, fluffy, regolith will make for higher temperatures at depth if, like Enceladus, there's a lot of heat coming from below. There's a limit to the effect, though, because if the regolith is too good an insulator, it get quite warm at its base, and the ice starts to evaporate and recondense and fill in the pores, making the regolith less insulating.

John

The case for an ocean gets stronger: JPL press release

Enceladus weather: Snow flurries and perfect powder for skiing
http://www.europlanet-eu.org/outreach/inde...51&Itemid=1

Article includes link to plume deposition map
http://www.europlanet-eu.org/outreach/imag..._press-maps.jpg

A few years ago someone here was posting results of a simulation of the deposition from plumes near the pole. Is he still around? Were the results similar?