This unprocessed view of Saturn’s moon Enceladus was acquired by NASA’s Cassini spacecraft during a close flyby of the icy moon on Oct. 28, 2015.
NASA’s Cassini spacecraft has begun transmitting its latest images of Saturn’s icy, geologically active moon Enceladus, acquired during the dramatic Oct. 28 flyby in which the probe passed about 30 miles above the moon’s south polar region. The spacecraft will continue transmitting its data from the encounter for the next several days.
“Cassini’s stunning images are providing us a quick look at Enceladus from this ultra-close flyby, but some of the most exciting science is yet to come,” said Linda Spilker, JPL.
Enceladus Up-Close During its closest ever dive past the active south polar region of Saturn’s moon Enceladus, NASA’s Cassini spacecraft quickly shuttered its imaging cameras to capture glimpses of the fast moving terrain below. This view has been processed to remove slight smearing present in the original, unprocessed image that was caused by the spacecraft’s fast motion. A labeled version of this image includes a scale bar. This view is centered on terrain at 57 degrees south latitude, 324 degrees west longitude. The image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft wide-angle camera on Oct. 28, 2015. The view was acquired at a distance of approximately 77 miles (124 kilometers) from Enceladus. Image scale is 49 feet (15 meters) per pixel.
Researchers will soon begin studying data from Cassini’s gas analyzer and dust detector instruments, which directly sampled the moon’s plume of gas and dust-sized icy particles during the flyby. Those analyses are likely to take several weeks, but should provide important insights about the composition of the global ocean beneath Enceladus’ surface and any hydrothermal activity occurring on the ocean floor. The potential for such activity in this small ocean world has made Enceladus a prime target for future exploration in search of habitable environments in the solar system beyond Earth.
Enceladus is one of the most reflective bodies in the solar system because it is constantly coated by fresh, white ice particles.
Cassini’s next and 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).
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=4759
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