The data from the Cassini spacecraft is said to strengthen the idea that Enceladus harbours a sub-surface sea.

BBC: Enceladus has 'spreading surface'

Europa, a satellite of Jupiter, and Enceladus, which orbits Saturn, both have large volumes of liquid water buried beneath their icy crusts.

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The more easily visible outlier in Saturn's famous bands of ice and dust is its E-ring, which encompasses the orbit of the moon Enceladus.

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Certainly, what the Cassini data has done is thrust Enceladus up the interest index of objects in the Solar System that demand further investigation.

BBC: NEWS | Science/Nature | Saturn moon delights and baffles

Pictures of the icy satellite Enceladus suggest its surface splits and spreads apart - just like the ocean floor on our planet splits to create new crust.

BBC: Enceladus has 'spreading surface'

Science from the extended mission could lay the groundwork for possible new robotic missions to Titan or Enceladus, which are under study by Nasa and the European Space Agency (Esa).

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"Bit by bit, we're accumulating the evidence that there is liquid water on Enceladus, " said Carolyn Porco, team leader of the Cassini imaging group and one of the senior scientists on the mission.

BBC: Enceladus has 'spreading surface'

Cassini sees something very similar on Enceladus.

BBC: Enceladus has 'spreading surface'

"One of the most fascinating aspects of Enceladus is that it's so very small as icy moons go, but so very geophysically active, " said Dr Bob Brown, from the University of Arizona, US, and team leader for Cassini's visual and infrared mapping spectrometer.

BBC: NEWS | Science/Nature | Saturn moon delights and baffles