vendredi 30 octobre 2015

Close View of Saturn's Moon Enceladus From Oct. 28 Flyby










NASA - Cassini International logo.

Oct. 30, 2015


This unprocessed "raw" image of Saturn's icy, geologically active moon Enceladus was acquired by NASA's Cassini spacecraft during its dramatic Oct. 28, 2015 flyby in which the probe passed about 30 miles (49 kilometers) above the moon's south polar region. The spacecraft will continue transmitting its data from the Enceladus encounter for the next several days. Cassini's next and final close Enceladus flyby will take place on Dec. 19, when the spacecraft will measure the amount of heat coming from the moon's interior.

Researchers will soon begin studying data from Cassini's gas analyzer and dust detector instruments, which directly sampled the moon's plume of gas and dust-sized icy particles during the flyby. Those analyses are likely to take several weeks, but should provide important insights about the composition of the global ocean beneath Enceladus' surface and any hydrothermal activity occurring on the ocean floor. The potential for such activity in this small ocean world has made Enceladus a prime target for future exploration in search of habitable environments in the solar system beyond Earth.

Related articles:

Deepest-Ever Dive Through Enceladus Plume Completed: http://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.ch/2015/10/deepest-ever-dive-through-enceladus.html

Seven Key Facts About Cassini's Oct. 28 'Plume Dive':
http://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.ch/2015/10/seven-key-facts-about-cassinis-oct-28.html

For more information about Cassini, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/cassini

http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov

http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Science/Cassini-Huygens

Image, Text, Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute/Sarah Loff.