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Nov 21, 2008 02:25 PM | 1
Saturn's small, snow and ice–covered moon, Enceladus, only 310 miles (500 kilometers) across, has made a big impact on astronomers. On a series of close flybys in 2004, the Cassini spacecraft revealed a great deal of unexpected activity bursting forth from this frozen world, which travels with 33 other named satellites in Saturn's domain over 740 million miles from Earth.
But none, save Titan, Saturn's largest moon, have proved so enigmatic: The Cassini spacecraft has imaged jets feeding an active plume of water vapor spouting into space from "tiger stripes," or gashes, on Enceladus's south pole, signaling perhaps underground liquid seas stirred by enough internal heat to drive surface venting. Add to the mix organic compounds, and the remarkable thing is that this little moon has joined Mars, Jupiter's satellite Europa, and Titan as one of the most promising candidates scientists have for finding life elsewhere in the solar system.
Scientific American.com has reconstructed a closer view [click on video below] of Enceladus so that the rest of us can take a look and learn...
Tags:
Enceladus,
Saturn's moon,
Cassini
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1 Comments
Add CommentI'd like to highlight that the only thing worrying me about the newly found moon is not that the giant is trying hard to out do it's other, just as equal Titan. But that when the moon Enceladus itself is trying is trying to out do it's rival, we tend to notice. I'm going in a circle when it comes down to what happens in the Solar System. And when the time comes the we'll find new out posts for the most expansive Sun. Having what little time I have and spending it on only the meek light of the Nasa team and the rest on the Esa, I'd like to think how the world makes space travel the least of it's worry when looking into the subject.
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