Cassini
snapped this image of the Saturn moon Enceladus during a recent flyby on August
11, 2008.
The
spacecraft sped past
Enceladus and tried to photograph jets of frozen water vapor spewing out
from fissures along the moon's south pole. However, the probe did not succeed
in resolving any individual vents in its images. It had also flown
through a plume earlier this year to try and analyze the composition of the
icy geysers.
The
image shows a groove, named Cairo Sulcus, crossing the upper left portion
of the image. An unnamed fracture curves around the lower right corner. Cassini was passing roughly 1,629 miles (2,621 kilometers) above
the moon at the time.
— NASA/JPL and SPACE.com Staff
Credit: NASA/JPL/Space
Science Institute
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