The Cassini spacecraft captured Saturn’s icy moon Enceladus, which has a subsurface ocean hidden beneath its frozen surface. The small moon’s cracked surface may look like rivers carved into it, but scientists think they’re really hot spots in the crust, where water ice and gases are shot up from the ocean floor and power Saturn’s E ring. Possible hydrothermal vents leading to the ocean floor can be found at the bottom of some of these cracks.
Saturn’s moon Enceladus is the sixth largest (19th largest in the Solar System). With its surface covered in pure ice, Enceladus is one of the most reflective objects in the Solar System. As a result, its surface is much cooler than light-absorbing matter at noon, reaching a mere -198 degrees Celsius. Despite its small size, Enceladus contains a wide range of surface features, ranging from ancient, extensively cratered regions to new, tectonically deformed topography.
The small moon Enceladus travels an average of 148,000 miles (238,000 kilometers) from Saturn in an elliptical orbit. Because of this, Enceladus always has the same side facing Saturn, resulting in an average temperature of -330 Fo (-201 Co). The ice crust is typically 20 to 25 kilometers (12 to 16 mi) thick.
An enhanced color version of the Cassini image of the white surface of Enceladus. Light blue cracks tear the moon’s surface in all directions, and deep craters dot its surface. The planet is partially hidden by the moon’s shadow and the dark area to the right.
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The Cassini spacecraft imaged the moon’s distinctive and complex south polar region for the first time in 2005. The spacecraft’s journey expanded our knowledge of the moon, leading scientists to conclude that Enceladus is the perfect place to search for extraterrestrial life because its chemistry, vast seas and internal heat.
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