Enceladus in Infrared
Explanation:
One of our Solar System's most
tantalizing
worlds, icy Saturnian moon Enceladus appears in these
detailed hemisphere views from the Cassini spacecraft.
In false color,
the five
panels present 13 years of infrared image data from Cassini's
Visual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer and Imaging Science Subsystem.
Fresh
ice is colored red,
and the most dramatic features look like long gashes in the
500
kilometer diameter
moon's south polar region.
They correspond to the location of
tiger stripes,
surface fractures that likely connect to an ocean
beneath
the Enceladus ice shell.
The fractures are the source of the moon's
icy plumes that continuously
spew into space.
The plumes were discovered by by Cassini in 2005.
Now,
reddish hues in the northern half of the leading hemisphere view
also indicate a recent resurfacing of other regions of
the geologically active moon,
a world that may hold conditions suitable for life.
Experts Debate:
How will
humanity first discover extraterrestrial life?
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
