Saturn's Moons as seen by Cassini

[Mike]

http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/news/press-releases-04/20040816-pr-a.cfm

[Whitters]

See also...
Two new moons orbiting between Mimas and Enceladus, discovered by the NASA/ESA/ASI Cassini-Huygens spacecraft, may be the smallest bodies so far seen around the ringed planet.

Read more:
http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Cassini-Huygens/SEMN7LW4QWD_0.html

[Whitters]

A gorgeous Dione poses for the NASA/ESA/ASI Cassini-Huygens spacecraft, with shadowed craters and bright wispy streaks first observed by the US Voyager spacecraft 24 years ago.

More at:
http://saturn.esa.int

[Rick]

The Cassini spacecraft has captured a striking image of Saturn's moons Dione and Tethys passing each other across the planet's ring system.

See: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4442246.stm
and: http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/home/index.cfm

[Mike]

Saturn's moon Enceladus could harbour a liquid water ocean beneath its icy crust, according to data sent back by the Cassini spacecraft.

Until Cassini reached Saturn, the tiny moon had received little attention.

But Enceladus is now the focus of intensive study following the discovery that it is geologically active.

Enceladus may possess reservoirs of near-surface liquid water that erupt to form geysers - and where there's water, there may be life, scientists argue.

These jets have been observed erupting from a "hot spot" in the moon's south polar region.

Scientists on the mission have likened them to the kinds of geysers found in Yellowstone National Park in the US.



For the full story from the BBC News website click here - http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4790126.stm

[Mike]

Saturn's tiny moon Enceladus may be the best place to look for life elsewhere in the Solar System.

That is the view of a senior scientist working on the Cassini spacecraft, which has been studying Saturn and its moons for nearly two years.

Dr Bob Brown told a major conference in Vienna, Austria, Enceladus contains simple organic molecules, water and heat, the ingredients for life.

He raised the possibility of future missions to probe inside the moon.

Other research presented at the European Geosciences Union (EGU) annual meeting suggests that Enceladus may have a core of molten rock reaching temperatures of 1,400K (above 1,100C).

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4895358.stm

[Rick]

Saturn's moon Enceladus is a "cosmic graffiti artist", with geysers which spray out material that eventually settles over other satellites.

Hubble Space Telescope observations show how material from Enceladus alters the appearance of its neighbours.

One of Saturn's rings - the E ring - is largely made up of icy material from Enceladus' volcanic plumes.

More: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6343877.stm

[Rick]

The plumes of water that erupt from Saturn's icy satellite Enceladus can be traced back to a radioactive "meltdown" shortly after the moon formed.

The discovery, in 2005, of water vapour spewing from geysers at Enceladus' south pole took scientists by surprise.

More: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6445323.stm

Lunar and Planetary Sciences Conference: http://www.lpi.usra.edu/meetings/lpsc2007/

Cassini-Huygens (NASA): http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/home/index.cfm
Cassini-Huygens (ESA): http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Cassini-Huygens/

[Rick]

NASA has announced plans to send the Cassini spacecraft back for a closer look at Enceladus, the Saturnian moon with famously leaky tiger stripes.

As part of its freshly declared budget clampdown, the agency says it wants to improve the value of space exploration by getting more science out of existing missions. Sending Cassini back for a closer look at the tiny but mysterious moon will help it do just that.

More: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/08/02/nasa_enceladus_recycling/
(And: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/08/31/enceladus_puzzle/ )

[Rick]

The Cassini spacecraft could be at risk of damage when it makes its next closest approach to the moon Enceladus.

Mission managers have warned that the larger particles of dust and ice emanating from the southern pole of Enceladus pose a real threat to the craft.

More: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/08/23/enceladus_cassini/

[Rick]

The tiger stripes at the south pole of Saturn's moon Enceladus are indeed responsible for the powerful jets emerging from the body.

The imaging team on the Cassini mission to the Saturn system have spent two years pouring over pictures of Enceladus, trying to determine the source of the icy jets once and for all.

More: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/10/12/enceladus_tiger_ice/

[Rick]

An ocean is not the source of the jets emanating from Saturn's moon Enceladus, a new study concludes.

The research questions the moon's promise as a target in the search for life beyond Earth and has stirred controversy among scientists who dispute its conclusions.

A chemical analysis of Enceladus, led by University of Colorado planetary scientist Nick Schneider, failed to detect sodium, an element scientists say should be in a body of water that has had billions of years of contact with rock.

More: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7145530.stm

[mickw]

Saturn's moon Rhea could be a mini version of its ringed parent and the first moon known to have rings of its own.
Scientists detected hints of the rings when the Cassini spacecraft flew by the moon, Saturn's second largest, in November 2005
"This showed that there was something unique going on," said Geraint Jones, a Cassini scientist. "We haven't seen anything like this at any of the other moons. The only thing we can come up with that fits what we see is that maybe there is some debris around Rhea. If it is correct this would be the first moon where we have evidence of rings."

More:  http://www.space.com/080306-rhea-rings.html

[Rick]

NASA's Cassini spacecraft will tomorrow do an "in your face" flyby of diminutive Saturnian moon Enceladus, passing as close as 50km (30 miles) above the surface in an attempt to gain valuable data on geysers spewing water vapour and other matter from giant fractures at the body's south pole.

Cassini discovered the geysers on the 500km (310 mile) diameter body back in 2005, prompting speculation it might have "vast stores" of liquid water. The geysers are throwing out material at 400 metres per second (800mph) to a distance of three times Enceladus's radius and creating "an enormous halo of fine ice dust" around the moon, some of which which supplies Saturn's E-ring.

More: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/03/11/cassini_enceladus_flyby/

[Rick]

Such is the interest in Enceladus that Nasa directed its Cassini spacecraft to pass just 50km from the Saturnian moon. The flyby took the probe through the plumes of icy particles emanating from the enigmatic cracks at the south pole dubbed the "tiger stripes".

The cause of this activity has developed into the big scientific question of the flagship mission.

The pass on Wednesday was designed to allow Cassini's instruments to sample the plume particles directly.

More: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7289670.stm