NASA has released a new image of Enceladus, the sixth-largest of Saturns moons, taken by the agencys Cassini orbiter. <\/p>\n
NASAs Cassini robotic orbiter obtained this image of Saturns moon Enceladus on November 27, 2016. This view looks toward the Saturn-facing hemisphere of the moon. North on Enceladus is up and rotated 6 degrees to the right. Image credit: NASA \/ JPL-Caltech \/ Space Science Institute. <\/p>\n
Enceladus has a diameter of only 314 miles (505 km), about a tenth of that of Titan. <\/p>\n
Discovered on August 28, 1789 by the English astronomer William Herschel, it orbits at 112,000 miles (180,000 km) from Saturns cloud tops, between the orbits of Mimas and Tethys. <\/p>\n
Enceladus displays at least five different types of terrain: parts of the moon show craters no larger than 22 miles (35 km) in diameter; other areas show regions with no craters, indicating resurfacing events in the geologically recent past. <\/p>\n
There are fissures, plains, corrugated terrain and other crustal deformations. <\/p>\n
Because Enceladus reflects almost 100% of the sunlight that strikes it, the surface temperature is extremely cold, about minus 330 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 201 degrees Celsius). <\/p>\n
Over the course of the Cassini mission, observations have shown that Enceladus not only has watery jets sending icy grains into space; it also has a global subsurface ocean, and may have hydrothermal activity as well. <\/p>\n
Since planetary researchers believe liquid water is a key ingredient for life, the implications for future missions searching for life elsewhere in the Solar System could be significant. <\/p>\n
The image was taken in green light with Cassinis narrow-angle camera on November 27, 2016. <\/p>\n
The view was acquired at a distance of roughly 81,000 miles (130,000 km) from Enceladus. <\/p>\n
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Cassini Captures Stunning View of Enceladus | Space Exploration ... - Sci-News.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" NASA has released a new image of Enceladus, the sixth-largest of Saturns moons, taken by the agencys Cassini orbiter. NASAs Cassini robotic orbiter obtained this image of Saturns moon Enceladus on November 27, 2016 Continue reading