Saturn in All of Its Splendor

06 December 2005

Cassini Images Show Evidence of Active Saturn Moon, December 6, 2005

(Enceladus is geologically active, scientists say)

Jets of fine, icy particles streaming from Saturn's moon Enceladus were captured in recent images from NASA's Cassini spacecraft, providing visual evidence that the moon is geologically active.

"For planetary explorers like us, there is little that can compare to the sighting of activity on another solar system body," said Carolyn Porco, Cassini imaging team leader at the Space Science Institute in Colorado.

The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and Agenzia Spaziale Italiana, the Italian space agency.

According to a December 6 NASA press release, the Cassini images clearly show multiple jets emanating from the moon's south polar region.

Based on data collected previously, scientists strongly suspected these jets arise from warm fractures, informally called "tiger stripes," in the region.

The fainter, extended plume stretches at least 482 kilometers above the surface of Enceladus, which is only 482 kilometers wide.

Cassini flew through the plume in July, when it passed a few hundred kilometers above the moon. During that flyby, Cassini's instruments measured the plume's constituent water vapor and icy particles.

The recent images were part of a sequence planned to confirm the presence of the plumes and examine them in finer detail.

Imaging scientists are comparing the new images to earlier Cassini data for a more detailed, three-dimensional picture of the plumes and to understand how activity has come about on such a small moon.

Cassini images are available at http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov, http://www.nasa.gov/cassini and http://ciclops.org

Text of the NASA press release follows:
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NASA
[Washington, D.C.]
Press release, December 6, 2005

RELEASE: 05-422

NASA'S CASSINI IMAGES REVEAL SPECTACULAR EVIDENCE OF AN ACTIVE MOON

Jets of fine, icy particles streaming from Saturn's moon Enceladus were captured in recent images from NASA's Cassini spacecraft. The images provide unambiguous visual evidence the moon is geologically active.

"For planetary explorers like us, there is little that can compare to the sighting of activity on another solar system body," said Dr. Carolyn Porco, Cassini imaging team leader at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colo. "This has been a heart-stopper, and surely one of our most thrilling results."

The Cassini images clearly show multiple jets emanating from the moon's south polar region. Based on earlier data, scientists strongly suspected these jets arise from warm fractures in the region. The fractures, informally dubbed "tiger stripes," are viewed essentially broadside in the new images.

The fainter, extended plume stretches at least 300 miles above the surface of Enceladus, which is only 300 miles wide. Cassini flew through the plume in July, when it passed a few hundred kilometers above the moon. During that flyby, Cassini's instruments measured the plume's constituent water vapor and icy particles.

Imaging team members analyzed images of Enceladus taken earlier this year at similar viewing angles. It was a rigorous effort to demonstrate earlier apparitions of the plumes, seen as far back as January, were in fact real and not due to imperfections in the camera.

The recent images were part of a sequence planned to confirm the presence of the plumes and examine them in finer detail. Imaging team member Dr. Andrew Ingersoll from the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, said, "I think what we're seeing are ice particles in jets of water vapor that emanate from pressurized vents. To form the particles and carry them aloft, the vapor must have a certain density, and that implies surprisingly warm temperatures for a cold body like Enceladus."

Imaging scientists are comparing the new images to earlier Cassini data in hopes of arriving at a more detailed, three-dimensional picture of the plumes and understanding how activity has come about on such a small moon. They are not sure about the precise cause of the moon's unexpected geologic vitality.

"In some ways, Enceladus resembles a huge comet," said Dr. Torrence Johnson, imaging team member from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena. "Only, in the case of Enceladus, the energy source for the geyser-like activity is believed to be due to internal heating by perhaps radioactivity and tides rather than the sunlight which causes cometary jets." The new data also give yet another indication of how Enceladus keeps supplying material to Saturn's gossamer E ring.

The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European and Italian Space Agencies. JPL, a division of the Caltech, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras were designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The imaging team is based at the Space Science Institute.

For the latest Cassini images on the Web, including a time sequence showing the plumes, visit:

http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov
http://www.nasa.gov/cassini
http://ciclops.org

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