A sidelong look at Saturn’s moon Enceladus yields what appears to be fountains of material spewing over the satellite’s southern polar region.

Covered in ice, Enceladus is the most reflective object in the solar system. The Cassini spacecraft caught this view of Enceladus, backlit by sunlight, while passing over a series of fractures in the moon’s surface.

Cassini surprised some astronomers this summer when it returned observations of Enceladus of a hot spot beneath the moon’s south pole. Fractures running across Enceladus’ southern latitudes appear to be spewing a slushy mix of warm water and ice into space.

In this view, plumes of various sizes appear to jet material across the limb of Enceladus.

• Puzzling Hot Spot Found on Moon of Saturn
• Special Report: Complete Coverage of Cassini’s Saturn Mission

-- SPACE.com Staff

Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute.