NASA’s stunning photos of Saturn Moon ‘Spewing Water’

Written by Mark Prigg on January 1, 2018. Posted in Current News

It is a stunning, almost ghostly view of Saturn’s moon. NASA has revealed the incredible image, taken by the Cassini probe before it crashed into Saturn’s atmosphere in a ‘death dive’.  Although the probe has now been destroyed, NASA is still regularly releasing images from its mission.

‘Saturn’s moon Enceladus drifts before the rings, which glow brightly in the sunlight,’ NASA said. Beneath its icy exterior shell, Enceladus hides a global ocean of liquid water, and many believe the planet could even hold life it its vast ocean.

Just visible at the moon’s south pole (at bottom here) is the plume of water ice particles and other material that constantly spews from that ocean via fractures in the ice. The bright speck to the right of Enceladus is a distant star.

This image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on Nov. 6, 2011, at a distance of approximately 90,000 miles (145,000 kilometers) from Enceladus. The Cassini spacecraft ended its mission on Sept. 15, 2017.

The Cassini spacecraft ended its mission on Sept. 15, 2017, and NASA has been releasing images from it regularly.

Last month it revealed a stunning compilation of ‘death shots’ taken just before the probe crashed into Saturn.

‘The brightly lit limb of a crescent Enceladus looks ethereal against the blackness of space,’ NASA says of one the most impressive images.  ‘The rest of the moon, lit by light reflected from Saturn, presents a ghostly appearance.’

Enceladus (313 miles or 504 kilometers across) is back-lit in this image, as is apparent by the thin crescent. However, the Sun-Enceladus-spacecraft (or phase) angle, at 141 degrees, is too low to make the moon’s famous plumes easily visible. This view looks toward the Saturn-facing hemisphere of Enceladus.

The above image is a composite of images taken with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on March 29, 2017, using filters that allow infrared, green, and ultraviolet light.

HOW ENCELADUS IS HEATED FROM WITHIN

 Researchers have spotted plumes from the moon’s vast underground ocean. According to Dr Postberg, the rock core of Enceladus is probably porous, which is why the water from the overlying ocean is able to deeply permeate it.

At the same time, strong tidal forces from Saturn affect the ‘loose’ rock in the moon’s core.  The new computer simulations show that the frictional heat is transferred very efficiently to the water circulating through the core, heating it to more than 90 degrees Celsius.

This water dissolves some constituents of the rocky material.  At certain hotspots, the hydrothermal fluids vent back into the ocean.  Due to the cooling dissolved material now partially precipitates as fine particles, which are carried by the warm water to the ocean’s surface.

The hotspots are located primarily at the poles of Enceladus. The ascending hydrothermal fluids probably trigger local melting in the ice layer of the polar region.

According to Dr Postberg, this explains why the ice layer at the poles is considerably thinner than at the equator – three to ten kilometres versus 35 kilometres. The view was obtained at a distance of approximately 110,000 miles (180,000 kilometers) from Enceladus. Image scale is 0.6 miles (1 kilometer) per pixel.

More than a week after its dramatic ‘death dive’ into Saturn’s atmosphere, NASA has released Cassini’s final images, revealing stunning last looks at the ringed planet and its mysterious moons.

From a view of Enceladus setting behind Saturn, to the site where Cassini would make its impact, the new images show just what the spacecraft observed leading up to its demise.

Cassini circled the planet for 13 years, helping to transform our understanding of the gas giant – and, thanks to its observations, scientists now know two of its moons have potential to host simple life. 

From a view of Enceladus setting behind Saturn, to the site where Cassini would make its impact, the new images show just what the spacecraft observed leading up to its demise. Its last image, pictured, is a monochrome look toward Saturn’s night side, light by sunlight reflected from the planet’s rings

In the breathtaking series of photos, NASA shows some of Cassini’s final observations.Its last image, the space agency reveals, is a monochrome look toward Saturn’s night side, light by sunlight reflected from the planet’s rings.

There, Cassini entered Saturn’s atmosphere just hours later, to embark on its mission-ending plunge. The spacecraft also captured detailed images of Saturn’s rings, even revealing a look at the small moon Daphnis and the waves it causes in the Keeler Gap.

In photo, a lone ‘propeller’ can be seen.

Space enthusiast Jason Major used some of Cassini’s final images to stitch together a stunning composite of Saturn (pictured) as Cassini began its final dive toward the planet

The spacecraft also captured detailed images of Saturn’s rings, even revealing a look at the small moon Daphnis and the waves it causes in the Keeler Gap, as seen above. The image was captured on September 13

These are the features created by small moonlets in the rings, as they attempt to open gaps in the ring material, according to NASA.

Space enthusiast Jason Major used some of Cassini’s final images to stitch together a stunning composite of Saturn as Cassini began its final dive toward the planet.

Read more: www.dailymail.co.uk

Trackback from your site.