Original file (1,280 × 720 pixels, file size: 7.19 MB, MIME type: image/gif, looped, 42 frames, 8.4 s)
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Summary
| Description |
New composite images made from NASA's Cassini spacecraft data are the most detailed global infrared views ever produced of Saturn's moon Enceladus. And data used to build those images provides strong evidence that the northern hemisphere of the moon has been resurfaced with ice from its interior. During Cassini's 13-year exploration of the Saturn system, the spacecraft's Visible and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (VIMS) collected light — both visible to the human eye and infrared light — reflected off the planet, its rings, and its 10 major icy moons. VIMS then separated light into its various wavelengths, information that tells scientists more about the makeup of the material reflecting it. Combined with detailed images captured by Cassini's Imaging Science Subsystem, the VIMS data was used to make the new global spectral map of Enceladus. It shows that infrared signals correlate with the geologic activity known to be ongoing at the south pole, where plumes of ice grains and vapor shoot out from an ocean that lies under the icy crust. The so-called "tiger stripe" gashes, where the plumes originate, are seen here. But some of the same infrared features are also seen in the northern hemisphere. That tells scientists not just that the northern area is covered with fresh ice but that the same kind of geologic activity, a resurfacing of the landscape, has occurred in both hemispheres. The resurfacing in the north may be due to icy jets, or a more gradual movement of ice through fractures in the crust, from the subsurface ocean to the surface. |
| Date | (published) |
| Source | Catalog page · Full-res ([ GIF]) |
| Author | NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona/LPG/CNRS/University of Nantes/Space Science Institute |
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This image or video was catalogued by Jet Propulsion Laboratory of the United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) under Photo ID: PIA24023. This tag does not indicate the copyright status of the attached work. A normal copyright tag is still required. See Commons:Licensing. Other languages:
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This media is a product of the Cassini Prime Mission Credit and attribution belongs to the mission team, if not already specified in the "author" row |
Licensing
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This file is in the public domain in the United States because it was solely created by NASA. NASA copyright policy states that "NASA material is not protected by copyright unless noted". (See Template:PD-USGov, NASA copyright policy page or JPL Image Use Policy.) |  |
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File history
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| Date/Time | Thumbnail | Dimensions | User | Comment | |
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| current | 11:11, 2 December 2020 | | 1,280 × 720 (7.19 MB) | Junior Jumper | {{NASA Photojournal |catalog =PIA24023 |image = |video = |animation =yes |mission =Cassini-Huygens |instrument =Visual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer |credit =NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona/LPG/CNRS/University of Nantes/Space Science Institute |caption =New composite images made from NASA's Cassini spacecraft data are the most detailed global infrared views ever produced of Saturn's moon Enceladus. And data used to build those images provides strong evidence that the northe... |
