William Atkins
Tuesday, 16 December 2008 20:03
Science -
Space
Page 1 of 3
NASA acknowledges that as astronomers look closer at Saturn’s small moon Enceladus they are finding a very dynamic and geographically active surface and atmosphere, especially about its south pole.
The NASA article “
Saturn’s dynamic moon Enceladus shows more signs of activity” states,
“The most recent flybys of Enceladus made by NASA's Cassini spacecraft have provided new signs of ongoing changes on and around the moon. The latest high-resolution images of Enceladus show signs that the south polar surface changes over time.”
These flybys of the southern region of Enceladus occurred on August 11, October 9, and October 31, all in 2008. The October 9th flyby placed Cassini, part of the
Cassini-Huygens mission, within a plume of water vapor and ice.
Enceladus is the sixth largest moon of the planet Saturn. Even though, it is considered a small moon, being only about 500 kilometers (300 miles) in diameter.
Though it is small in surface area, it contains a wide range of terrains from old cratered surfaces to young regions formed by tectonic activity. Some surfaces are believed to be only 100 million years old—very young when it comes to such surfaces.
The moon Enceladus is one of only three bodies within the outer solar system (past Earth) that has active eruptions. The other two are Triton (a moon of Neptune) and Io (a moon of Jupiter).
The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Italian Space Agency (ISA).
Jets of water vapor are described to be like the stripes of a tiger. Find out more on page two.
