Liftoff? Icy Jets of Saturn Moon Enceladus Fly in NASA Photo

[Judi Lynn]

By Sarah Lewin, Space.com Associate Editor | July 19, 2017 10:24am ET


- click for image -

https://img.purch.com/h/1400/aHR0cDovL3d3dy5zcGFjZS5jb20vaW1hZ2VzL2kvMDAwLzA2Ny84NzQvb3JpZ2luYWwvZW5jZWxhZHVzLWpldHMuanBn


A photo of Saturn's moon Enceladus looks poised for liftoff as jets fly from its southern hemisphere.

While Enceladus can't fly — at least outside of its ordinary orbit around the ringed planet — its remarkable icy jets intrigue scientists because they hint at a subsurface ocean that could support life.

The photo, taken by the Cassini spacecraft, spotlights the moon's Saturn-facing hemisphere, which is 313 miles across (504 km), according to NASA's image caption. The jets are backlit by sunlight, while the front shines with light reflected back from Saturn. Cassini was 502,000 miles (808,000 km) from Enceladus when it captured the visible-light image with its narrow-angle camera on April 13, and the image shows 3 miles (5 km) per pixel.


More:
https://www.space.com/37536-liftoff-enceladus-jets-saturn-moon-pic.html?utm_source=notifications

[PJMcK]

1. Very cool

Thanks, Judi Lynn! That's a great photo.

[eppur_se_muova]

2. Photo from jpl.nasa.gov ...

links at the page https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/spaceimages/details.php?id=PIA21338

[Judi Lynn]

3. Mind-boggling images. Thanks for the link. n/t