jets of steam and icy grains erupt from deep fractures in the south polar terrain of Enceladus, making this tiny body one of only four places in the solar system known to have geologic activity in the present day....[More]
jets of steam and icy grains erupt from deep fractures in the south polar terrain of Enceladus, making this tiny body one of only four places in the solar system known to have geologic activity in the present day. This artist’s conception includes astronauts for scale.
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Ron Miller
FIRST FLYBY of Enceladus, by the Voyager 2 spacecraft in 1981, produced images of limited coverage and mediocre resolution. The smooth areas indicated geologic activity in the recent past.
[Link to this slide] NASA/JPL/SPACE SCIENCE INSTITUTE
ENCELADUS ( left of center ) is a tenth the size of Saturn's largest moon, Titan. Bodies of its size lose their internal heat quickly; apart from Enceladus, they are all geologically dead....[More]
ENCELADUS (left of center) is a tenth the size of Saturn's largest moon, Titan. Bodies of its size lose their internal heat quickly; apart from Enceladus, they are all geologically dead. What keeps Enceladus active?
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NASA/JPL/SPACE SCIENCE INSTITUTE
AS SEEN FROM CASSINI spacecraft, Enceladus slips in front of Dione, a larger and more distant moon whose gravity indirectly helps to drive Enceladus's activity. The outer part of Saturn's rings is in the foreground....[More]
AS SEEN FROM CASSINI spacecraft, Enceladus slips in front of Dione, a larger and more distant moon whose gravity indirectly helps to drive Enceladus's activity. The outer part of Saturn's rings is in the foreground.
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NASA/JPL/SPACE SCIENCE INSTITUTE
[CASSINI SURFACE OBSERVATIONS]
SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE of Enceladus was revealed by Cassini for the first time in 2005. This mosaic of images shows the surface as it would appear if our vision extended into the infrared and ultraviolet....[More]
[CASSINI SURFACE OBSERVATIONS]
SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE of Enceladus was revealed by Cassini for the first time in 2005. This mosaic of images shows the surface as it would appear if our vision extended into the infrared and ultraviolet. (To the unaided eye, the surface looks uniformly white.) The "tiger stripes" near the bottom are warm, geologically active gashes across the south polar terrain. Their bluish colors arise because they are coated with larger than average ice grains that absorb infrared light.
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NASA/JPL/SPACE SCIENCE INSTITUTE
[CASSINI SURFACE OBSERVATIONS]
On close inspection by Cassini, large regions on Enceladus that looked smooth to Voyager are actually highly textured ( inset ). Deep chasms extend northward into fractured terrains....[More]
[CASSINI SURFACE OBSERVATIONS]
On close inspection by Cassini, large regions on Enceladus that looked smooth to Voyager are actually highly textured (inset). Deep chasms extend northward into fractured terrains. Even craters are fractured, sliced and often degraded.
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NASA/JPL/SPACE SCIENCE INSTITUTE
[CASSINI SURFACE OBSERVATIONS]
Close-up of the tiger-stripe region shows blocks of ice the size of houses ( inset ). Surrounding the stripes is a sinuous circumpolar chain of mountains that may be the Enceladan tectonic equivalent of the Himalaya....[More]
[CASSINI SURFACE OBSERVATIONS]
Close-up of the tiger-stripe region shows blocks of ice the size of houses (inset). Surrounding the stripes is a sinuous circumpolar chain of mountains that may be the Enceladan tectonic equivalent of the Himalaya.
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NASA/JPL/SPACE SCIENCE INSTITUTE
[CASSINI GEYSER OBSERVATIONS] The tiny, icy grains sprayed into space are easiest to see when backlit by the sun. Mountains and valleys are visible along the edge of this silhouette.
[Link to this slide] NASA/JPL/SPACE SCIENCE INSTITUTE
[CASSINI GEYSER OBSERVATIONS]
The jets feed Saturn's E ring, as Cassini saw from a distance of about two million kilometers. Some of the long, tendril-like structures seen in the vicinity of Enceladus are the extensions of the jets....[More]
[CASSINI GEYSER OBSERVATIONS]
The jets feed Saturn's E ring, as Cassini saw from a distance of about two million kilometers. Some of the long, tendril-like structures seen in the vicinity of Enceladus are the extensions of the jets. Others are created by Enceladus's gravitational perturbations of passing particles in the E ring.
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NASA/JPL/SPACE SCIENCE INSTITUTE
[CASSINI GEYSER OBSERVATIONS] The jets can be traced to specific locations on the tiger stripes. Oddly, these locations do not obviously differ from other parts of the stripes. [Link to this slide] NASA/JPL/SPACE SCIENCE INSTITUTE
[CASSINI GEYSER OBSERVATIONS] A thermal map shows temperatures up to 180 kelvins along the stripes, much too hot to be explained by solar heating. The jets originate in the very hottest regions (white circles). [Link to this slide] NASA/JPL/SPACE SCIENCE INSTITUTE
YES! Send me a free issue of Scientific American with no obligation to continue the subscription. If I like it, I will be billed for the one-year subscription.
This is a fascinating article on an amazing and surprising world by one of the world's finest scientific minds. What Cassini has found out at Saturn is truly astonishing and brings to mind so many questions about the presence of life in the Universe. Now we know that tidal heating forces could have as much to do with creating a habitable world as proximity of the world to it's parent star. With the discovery of so many new planetary systems containing gas giants, the possibilities are indeed endless. Bravo Carolyn Porco and Cassini!!!
Where water exists, life is there also. This is in the Quran which declares the planets are inhabited; there is water, plant, animal and man on the planets. http://universeandquran.t35.com/index.htm#The_planets_Are_Inhabited_
4. eanassir
in reply to vikingsfan308:08 AM 11/20/08
There may be some anticipated meeting between the people of Earth and the people of the planets (Mars is the most anticipated fro such a meeting.) Such meeting may be fruitful, with mutual exchange of knowledge of the people of both planets.
This is a wonderful site to see. Myself even as a little girl, I always wondered what's out their? Humans on Earth can't be the only living breathing things in this Universe? Living in Space will soon be an Everlasting Event just like living in the Sun.
Congradulations Dr Carolyn Porco ,it was a brilliant write-up, leads to Brain storming enlightenment--" The energy being injected into the body falls short of the energy coming out of Encleadus south pole by a factor of FIVE!! intelligently calculated sign of wisdom J Meyer & Jack W. The energy can be injected by Celestial Bodies which are in Orbital Synchrony -----besides Encleadus and Dione there are other planets and moons, within our Solar system which fall in perfect Geometrical Angular placement-------when measurements are made from the fixed precise point location on ENCLEADUS surface .( Natural CONVERGENCE) Synchronised phase lock and orbital resonance is natures hidden properties on a Geometrized grid Locked, and can involve other Planets,moons ,celestial bodies --but ONLY from within our Solar System.
Their size dimensions are completely OFF. I have re-rendered a dozen photos of Enceladus, and it's a very small moon, almost spacecraft-size. You don't want to believe me, that's fine. I don't apologize for my work.
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9 Comments
Add CommentThis is a fascinating article on an amazing and surprising world by one of the world's finest scientific minds. What Cassini has found out at Saturn is truly astonishing and brings to mind so many questions about the presence of life in the Universe. Now we know that tidal heating forces could have as much to do with creating a habitable world as proximity of the world to it's parent star. With the discovery of so many new planetary systems containing gas giants, the possibilities are indeed endless. Bravo Carolyn Porco and Cassini!!!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisWhere water exists, life is there also. This is in the Quran which declares the planets are inhabited; there is water, plant, animal and man on the planets.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thishttp://universeandquran.t35.com/index.htm#The_planets_Are_Inhabited_
eanassir.
http://universeandquran.t35.com
Very Interesting. I long for the day that we humans can move between planets and live on different ones to Earth. Of course, I might be long dead.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThere may be some anticipated meeting between the people of Earth and the people of the planets (Mars is the most anticipated fro such a meeting.)
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisSuch meeting may be fruitful, with mutual exchange of knowledge of the people of both planets.
http://universeandquran.t35.com/new_page_2.htm#An_Anticipated_Meeting_
eanassir
http://universeandquran.t35.com
This is a wonderful site to see. Myself even as a little girl, I always wondered what's out their? Humans on Earth can't be the only living breathing things in this Universe? Living in Space will soon be an
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisEverlasting Event just like living in the Sun.
Congradulations Dr Carolyn Porco ,it was a brilliant write-up, leads to Brain storming enlightenment--" The energy being injected into the body
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisfalls short of the energy coming out of Encleadus south pole by a factor of
FIVE!! intelligently calculated sign of wisdom J Meyer & Jack W.
The energy can be injected by Celestial Bodies which are in Orbital Synchrony -----besides Encleadus and Dione there are other planets and moons, within our Solar system which fall in perfect Geometrical Angular
placement-------when measurements are made from the fixed precise point location on ENCLEADUS surface .( Natural CONVERGENCE)
Synchronised phase lock and orbital resonance is natures hidden properties on a Geometrized grid Locked, and can involve other Planets,moons ,celestial bodies --but ONLY from within our Solar System.
Yes i agree
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisInteresting.. Try to focus on much more details that dealing with space sciences which will be more useful for the students like me..
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisTheir size dimensions are completely OFF. I have re-rendered a dozen photos of Enceladus, and it's a very small moon, almost spacecraft-size. You don't want to believe me, that's fine. I don't apologize for my work.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this