Enceladus, one of Saturn’s smallest moons at just 500 kilometers across, has been found to generate surprisingly vast and complex electromagnetic waves, far beyond its physical size.

Data from NASA’s Cassini spacecraft revealed that the moon’s water geysers release charged particles, forming a plasma that interacts with Saturn’s magnetic field to produce Alfvén waves.

These waves travel hundreds of thousands of kilometers, reflecting off Saturn’s ionosphere and plasma torus, forming a dynamic lattice of crisscrossing electromagnetic structures.

Unlike typical waves that dissipate quickly, Enceladus’ waves persist and amplify through repeated reflections, creating a vast and interconnected electromagnetic system, the Daily Galaxy has reported.

This discovery, published in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics, provides new insights into planetary magnetospheres and the complex interactions between moons and their host planets.