Closest northern views of Saturn's moon Enceladus

http://phys.org ^ | October 16, 2015 | NASA

[Red Badger]

NASA's Cassini spacecraft zoomed by Saturn's icy moon Enceladus on Oct. 14, 2015, capturing this stunning image of the moon's north pole. A companion view from the wide-angle camera shows a zoomed out view of the same region for context. Scientists expected the north polar region of Enceladus to be heavily cratered, based on low-resolution images from the Voyager mission, but high-resolution Cassini images show a landscape of stark contrasts. Thin cracks cross over the pole -- the northernmost extent of a global system of such fractures. Before this Cassini flyby, scientists did not know if the fractures extended so far north on Enceladus. North on Enceladus is up. The image was taken in visible green light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute ************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

NASA's Cassini spacecraft has begun returning its best-ever views of the northern extremes of Saturn's icy, ocean-bearing moon Enceladus. The spacecraft obtained the images during its Oct. 14 flyby, passing 1,142 miles (1,839 kilometers) above the moon's surface. Mission controllers say the spacecraft will continue transmitting images and other data from the encounter for the next several days.

Scientists expected the north polar region of Enceladus to be heavily cratered, based on low-resolution images from the Voyager mission, but the new high-resolution Cassini images show a landscape of stark contrasts. "The northern regions are crisscrossed by a spidery network of gossamer-thin cracks that slice through the craters," said Paul Helfenstein, a member of the Cassini imaging team at Cornell University, Ithaca, New York. "These thin cracks are ubiquitous on Enceladus, and now we see that they extend across the northern terrains as well."

In addition to the processed images, unprocessed, or "raw," images are posted on the Cassini mission website.

Cassini's next encounter with Enceladus is planned for Oct. 28, when the spacecraft will come within 30 miles (49 kilometers) of the moon's south polar region. During the encounter, Cassini will make its deepest-ever dive through the moon's plume of icy spray, sampling the chemistry of the extraterrestrial ocean beneath the ice. Mission scientists are hopeful data from that flyby will provide evidence of how much hydrothermal activity is occurring in the moon's ocean, along with more detailed insights about the ocean's chemistry—both of which relate to the potential habitability of Enceladus.

This view from NASA's Cassini spacecraft shows battered terrain around the north pole of Saturn's icy moon Enceladus. Craters crowd and overlap each other, each one recording an impact in the moon's distant past. The moon's north pole lies approximately at the top of this view from Cassini's wide-angle camera. A companion view from the narrow-angle camera shows the pole at a resolution about ten times higher. North on Enceladus is up. The image was taken in visible light by Cassini on Oct. 14, 2015. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute

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Cassini's final close Enceladus flyby will take place on Dec. 19, when the spacecraft will measure the amount of heat coming from the moon's interior. The flyby will be at an altitude of 3,106 miles (4,999 kilometers).

NASA's Cassini spacecraft spied this tight trio of craters as it approached Saturn's icy moon Enceladus for a close flyby on Oct. 14, 2015. The craters, located at high northern latitudes, are sliced through by thin fractures -- part of a network of similar cracks that wrap around the snow-white moon. The image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on Oct. 14, 2015 at a distance of approximately 6,000 miles (10,000 kilometers) from Enceladus. Image scale is 197 feet (60 meters) per pixel. The image was taken with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on Oct. 14, 2015 using a spectral filter which preferentially admits wavelengths of ultraviolet light centered at 338 nanometers. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute *****************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

Explore further: Latest Cassini images of Enceladus on view

More information: An online toolkit for all three final Enceladus flybys is available at solarsystem.nasa.gov/finalflybys

Provided by: Jet Propulsion Laboratory

[Red Badger]

Space Ping!.......................

[knarf]

water, water, everywhere .....

[Red Badger]

Cassini imaging scientists used views like this one to help them identify the source locations for individual jets spurting ice particles, water vapor and trace organic compounds from the surface of Saturn's moon Enceladus. *********************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************** ************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************ http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/finalflybys

[Red Badger]

Ice, Ice, Baby!.............................

[fwdude]

I’m old enough to remember when we thought Saturn had only 9 moons.

[knarf]

OK ... here's a theory ...

In the beginning all planets were in the same orbit as earth and God watched to see who would do the best .... and like a game of marbles ..... HE flicked the losers out of the circle

And as long as we continue to honor Him as Creator of it all ... He'll let us stay

If not ...

Have you seen all those OTHER creations of His He could go to ?

[Red Badger]

I’m old enough to remember when we thought the Solar System had only 9 planets............................

[JPG]

Bring your coat.

At about -300F it's a bit chilly.

[alexander_busek]

I’m old enough to remember when we thought Saturn had only 9 moons.

Ditto here! Jupiter had 12, Saturn 9, Pluto none...

Regards,

[Red Badger]

It reflects almost 100% of the sunlight it receives. This high reflectivity is caused by a very smooth surface of fresh water ice. Since Enceladus reflects so much of the sunlight it receives, its surface temperature is a chilling -330° F (-201° C).
Enceladus - Sea and Sky
www.seasky.org/solar-system/saturn-enceladus.html

[C19fan]

Should rename the place Frigia.

[Red Badger]

There was a place called Phyrgia, in Roman times, now in modern day Turkey..................

[nikos1121]

I’m old enough to recall when we thought the Sun and planets revolved around Earth.

[tet68]

EPA to close off road vehicle use on Enceladus
as tracks reach around world...

[Red Badger]

You mean they don’t?????????...........................

[rjsimmon]

This shot shows a rather hi-impact to the top and left but relatively lo-impact or even no-impact area to the right. I wonder if its orbital period shelters it from meteor showers?

[Red Badger]

Same as our Moon, probably gravitationally locked into a single face aimed at the orbited body.................

[Red Badger]

Snowmobile manufacturers and dealers hardest hit.....................

[Forward the Light Brigade]

Another good Roman name—THUEL The frozen end of the world.