Enceladus, one of Saturn’s smaller moons, reflects 90% of the Sun’s light.

Enceladus, one of Saturn’s smaller moons, reflects 90% of the Sun’s light.

Although small, the moon shines brightly. Its icy surface reflects more than 90 percent of the sunlight that falls on it, making it one of the brightest objects in the solar system. ... Enceladus is only one-seventh the diameter of Earth's moon. It is the sixth largest and most massive moon of Saturn.

It is perturbed in its orbit by Saturn's gravitational field and by the large neighboring satellites Tethys and Dione. Because Enceladus reflects so much sunlight, the surface temperature is only -201° C (-330° F).

Cassini revealed the dramatic truth: Enceladus is an active moon that hides a global ocean of liquid salty water beneath its crust. What's more, jets of icy particles from that ocean, laced with a brew of water and simple organic chemicals, gush out into space continuously from this fascinating ocean world.

The subsurface ocean of Saturn's moon Enceladus seems possibly habitable in many ways. Now a new study has determined it's the right age to support life, too. The geysers of Saturn's moon Enceladus. These huge plumes of water vapor erupt through cracks at Enceladus' south pole.