Night Hunter Posted October 17, 2015 Share Posted October 17, 2015 "The northern regions are crisscrossed by a spidery network of gossamer-thin cracks that slice through the craters," said Cassini imaging team member Paul Helfenstein. "These thin cracks are ubiquitous on Enceladus, and now we see that they extend across the northern terrains as well." One image from the flyby is particularly entertaining. It shows a series of three craters in a formation that makes them look like a snowman carved onto the moon. Cassini got as close as 1,142 miles (1,839 kilometers) from the moon on Wednesday, but it will make the daredevil move of coming within just 30 miles (49 kilometers) of the south-pole area on its next flyby scheduled for October 28. Researchers believe Enceladus has a subsurface ocean, which may be responsible for plumes of spray radiating from the south pole. The Cassini encounter will hopefully provide details on the chemical makeup of the ocean. A final flyby will take place on December 19 with the goal of measuring the heat from the interior. This means we can look forward to more fascinating images to fill out our Enceladus glamour-shot portfolio. "The northern regions are crisscrossed by a spidery network of gossamer-thin cracks that slice through the craters," said Cassini imaging team member Paul Helfenstein. "These thin cracks are ubiquitous on Enceladus, and now we see that they extend across the northern terrains as well." One image from the flyby is particularly entertaining. It shows a series of three craters in a formation that makes them look like a snowman carved onto the moon. Cassini got as close as 1,142 miles (1,839 kilometers) from the moon on Wednesday, but it will make the daredevil move of coming within just 30 miles (49 kilometers) of the south-pole area on its next flyby scheduled for October 28. Researchers believe Enceladus has a subsurface ocean, which may be responsible for plumes of spray radiating from the south pole. The Cassini encounter will hopefully provide details on the chemical makeup of the ocean. A final flyby will take place on December 19 with the goal of measuring the heat from the interior. This means we can look forward to more fascinating images to fill out our Enceladus glamour-shot portfolio. Source http://www.cnet.com/ 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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