* Astronomy

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RE: Enceladus

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Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute

This image of plumes at Enceladus' south polar region was taken by the Cassini spaceprobe on the 18th May, 2010, when it was approximately 14,972 kilometres away.
The image was taken using the CL1 and CL2 filters.

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Cassini Returning Enceladus Gravity Data

NASA's Cassini spacecraft successfully completed its 26-hour gravity observation at Saturn's moon Enceladus this week, sending back data scientists will use to understand the moon's interior composition and structure.
The flyby took Cassini through the water-rich plume flaring out from Enceladus' south polar region, with a closest approach of about 100 kilometers (60 miles) occurring in the late afternoon of April 27, 2010, Pacific Time, or just after midnight April 28 UTC.
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Cassini Measures Tug of Enceladus

NASA's Cassini spacecraft will be gliding low over Saturn's moon Enceladus for a gravity experiment designed to probe the moon's interior composition. The flyby, which will take Cassini through the water-rich plume flaring out from Enceladus's south polar region, will occur on April 27 Pacific time and April 28 UTC. At closest approach, Cassini will be flying about 100 kilometres above the moon's surface.
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Enceladus leaves plasma bubbles in its wake

Observations of how Saturn's moon Enceladus interacts with its environment show it leaves a complex pattern of ripples and bubbles in its wake. Sheila Kanani will be presenting the results at the RAS National Astronomy Meeting in Glasgow on Thursday 14th April.
Enceladus sits deep within Saturn's magnetosphere, which is filled with electrically charged particles (plasma) originating from both the planet and its moons. The Cassini spacecraft has made nine flybys of the mysterious sixth-largest moon since 2005. The closest of these have taken the spacecraft's suite of instruments just 25 km from Enceladus's surface, which scientists believe conceals a saline ocean. Heated vents at the south pole of the moon release a plume of material, consisting mainly of icy grains and water vapour, into space. Measurements from the Cassini Plasma Spectrometer (CAPS) and the Magnetospheric IMaging Instrument (MIMI) show that both the moon and its plume are continuously soaking up the plasma, which rushes past at around 30 kilometres per second, leaving a cavity downstream. In addition, the most energetic particles which zoom up and down Saturn's magnetic field lines are swept up, leaving a much larger void in the high energy plasma. Material from Enceladus, both dust and gas, is also being charged and forming new plasma.
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This mosaic shows an updated global map of Saturn's icy moon Enceladus, created using images taken during Cassini spacecraft flybys. The map incorporates new images taken during flybys in October and November 2009.

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Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute

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Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute

This image of Enceladus above the rings of Saturn was taken by the Cassini spaceprobe on the 2nd March, 2010 when it was approximately 626,808 kilometres away.
The image was taken using the RED and CL2 filters.

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Cassini Finds Plethora of Plumes, Hotspots at Enceladus

Newly released images from last November's swoop over Saturn's icy moon Enceladus by NASA's Cassini spacecraft reveal a forest of new jets spraying from prominent fractures crossing the south polar region and yield the most detailed temperature map to date of one fracture.
The new images from the imaging science subsystem and the composite infrared spectrometer teams also include the best 3-D image ever obtained of a "tiger stripe," a fissure that sprays icy particles, water vapor and organic compounds. There are also views of regions not well-mapped previously on Enceladus, including a southern area with crudely circular tectonic patterns.
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Signs of liquid water in Saturnian moon

Scientists working on the Cassini space mission have found negatively charged water ions in the ice plume of Enceladus. Their findings, based on analysis from data taken in plume fly-throughs in 2008 and reported in the journal Icarus, provide evidence for the presence of liquid water, which suggests the ingredients for life inside the icy moon. The Cassini plasma spectrometer, used to gather this data, also found other species of negatively charged ions including hydrocarbons.
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Enceladus water story reinforced

There seems little doubt that Saturn's moon Enceladus hides a large body of liquid water beneath its icy skin.
The Cassini probe, which periodically sweeps past the little moon, has returned yet more data to back up the idea of a sub-surface sea.
This time, it is the detection of negatively charged water molecules in the atmosphere of Enceladus.
On Earth, such ions are often seen where liquid water is in motion, such as waterfalls or crashing ocean waves.
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