Saturn’s icy moon may have an ocean
According to the Cassini orbiter, Saturn’s moon Enceladus may have an underground ocean of salty molten liquid. The moon shoots ice from geysers that burst from fissures in the moon as confirmed by Cassini, which swooped to within 21 kilometers of the surface. The icy geysers are responsible for Saturn’s E Rings.
(via itsfullofstars)
Looking Over Enceladus
The Cassini spacecraft looks over cratered and tectonically deformed terrain on Saturn’s moon Enceladus as the camera also catches a glimpse of the planet’s rings in the background. The image was captured during the spacecraft’s flyby of Enceladus on Nov. 30, 2010.
Geologically young terrain in the middle latitudes of the moon gives way to older, cratered terrain in the northern latitudes. See New to Old on Enceladus to learn more. This view is centered on terrain at 41 degrees north latitude, 202 degrees west longitude. North on Enceladus (504 kilometers, or 313 miles, across) is up and rotated 28 degrees to the right.
Credit: NASA/JPL/SSI
Enceladus’ ice geysers taken by the Cassini spacecraft, which suggests there is liquid water on the moon.
