Explanation:
A sunlit crescent of
Saturn's
moon Enceladus looms
above the night side of Saturn in
this
dramatic image from the
Cassini spacecraft.
Captured on August 13, 2010 looking in a sunward direction during
a flyby of the icy moon, the view also traces layers in the
upper atmosphere of Saturn scattering sunlight along the
planet's bright limb.
Closer to the spacecraft than Saturn,
Enceladus is a mere 60,000 kilometers from Cassini's camera.
The south polar region of the 500 kilometer-diameter moon
is illuminated, including plumes
of water vapor and icy particles spraying above the
long fissures in the moon's surface.
The fissures have been dubbed tiger
stripes.
First discovered in Cassini images from 2005, the plumes are
strong evidence that liquid water exists near the surface of
surprisinglyactive Enceladus.
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