Saturn's A-ring Soaks Up Debris Ejected from Nearby Moon

ScienceDaily is running a story about the recently discovered interaction between Saturn's A-ring and one of Saturn's small moons, Enceladus. Thanks to data from Cassini, scientists have discovered that ejected matter from Enceladus' ice geysers is absorbed into the A-ring, where it is then trapped. We discussed the geysers themselves a few years ago, and researchers have been working since then to determine where the material was going. Quoting: "This is the latest surprising phenomenon associated with the ice geysers of Enceladus to be discovered or confirmed by Cassini scientists. Earlier, the geysers were found to be responsible for the content of the E-ring. Next, the whole magnetic environment of Saturn was found to be weighed down by the material spewing from Enceladus, which becomes plasma -- a gas of electrically charged particles. Now, Cassini scientists confirm that the plasma, which creates a donut-shaped cloud around Saturn, is being snatched by Saturn's A-ring, which acts like a giant sponge where the plasma is absorbed."

Comments

Cosmos reference:

[G4from128k]

With all that plasma, the A-ring looks like great habitat for superconducting electrovores.

Re:Moons creating moons?

[Jugalator]

I don't think that can happen with Saturn's gravity tearing things up and putting things in orbit until they can form a larger body?

And if it could, I'd think it should have happened many million years ago already?

Re:ice geysers?

[susano_otter]

Do they really look like geysers to anybody? Wouldn't they be more columnar, or conical?

What is it about a columnar or conical jet that makes them not geysers?