A dust halo of Enceladus

The physical consequence of the collisional interaction of the Saturnian E- ring particles with the icy satellite Enceladus is examined. It is suggeste d that Enceladus should be surrounded by an extended halo of dust particles . In association with the generation of impact vapor clouds, an abundance o f tiny smoke particles of 10-100 A diameter might be created and subsequent ly picked up by the corotating magnetosphere. The Saturnian system could th erefore be immersed in a disc of fine dust particles. The E-ring particle i mpact process is also important in providing a mechanism for surface mass t ransport and removal at Enceladus, For example, because of impact, erosion craters of diameters less than 2 km could be significantly eroded in region s where the surface age is only 100 million years old.