Image:  NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute  –  Cassini

Cassini has weathered its Nov 2, 2009 flyby of the Saturn’s moon, Enceladus, in good shape.  The flyby placed the spacecraft at about 100 km (60 miles) above the surface of Enceladus at its closest point, and directly through the plume you see imaged here in the south polar region.  Water vapor, sodium, complex hydrocarbons such as propane and ethane, and other organic molecules have been detected in the plume in previous flybys.  This closer look at the material in the plume might help answer some of the questions science has for Enceladus.

Currently thought to have an ocean of liquid water under a mantle of ice, and known to be geologically active, Enceladus looks like a good place to search for extraterrestrial life.  Material released from Enceladus is also thought to be the source of Saturn’s E ring.  Modest in size (its diameter is only about 500 km), this moon certainly is an interesting study.  As it’s surface is covered in water ice, Enceladus reflects almost 100% of light reaching it.  In addition, it has a source of internal heat, and it even has a thin atmosphere composed of water vapour, nitrogen, carbon dioxide, and methane.

Here is a beautiful image of Enceladus with Saturn behind it, and the rings below it:

NASA/JPL ESA SSI Cassini Imaging Team

This natural color image was taken early in 2006.  The marks on Saturn in the upper left of the image are ring shadows.

NASA scientists will be working to interpret the information Cassini collected as it passed through the icy plume Monday.  I’m hoping we’ll gain more of an idea of what lies beneath the ice crust of Enceladus.

You can read more about Cassini by going to the Mission homepage.