Washington Spectacular supersonic plumes of gas and dust shooting from one of Saturn’s moons may contain water, astronomers say. Their research, appearing in the journal Nature, adds to the evidence suggesting that the moon Enceladus, left, is one of the solar system’s most compelling places for potential life.

Using images from Nasa’s Cassini probe, the astronomers had already suggested that the plumes shooting from Enceladus’s icy terrain contained water vapour. New calculations suggest that the gas and dust spewing at supersonic speeds make the case for liquid, the lead author, Candice Hansen, of Nasa’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California, said. Her team found that the plumes travelled at more than 1,360 mph. Reaching that speed “is hard to do without liquids”, she said. (AP)

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