Image:EN004 Moon with a Past.jpg

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Large mosaic of images taken by the Cassini Spacecraft of Saturn's moon Enceladus

Original caption released with image:

The complex history of Enceladus' surface is revealed in great detail in this mosaic of images taken during Cassini's closest encounter with this intriguing icy moon.

Fractures are nearly ubiquitous in this terrain, cutting across each other and across impact craters. Scientists can use the relationships between different features to determine the order in which they formed, thereby unraveling the moon’s past. For example, almost all of the craters in this mosaic have fractures running through their rims and floors, indicating that the craters formed first. This means that Enceladus has been geologically active relatively recently, especially compared to some of its neighbors in the Saturn system.

There is an impressive array of fractures visible here – from the wide east-west rifts near upper left of the mosaic to the very fine north-south fractures in the centre (which are approximately 100 to 400 meters, or 330 to 1,300 feet, across). Due to the complexity of this terrain, the task of unraveling Enceladus' history promises to be a worthy challenge for planetary scientists.

The images in this mosaic were taken on March 9, 2005 in visible green light with the narrow angle camera from distances ranging from approximately 13,000 to 5,200 kilometers (8,000 to 3,200 miles) from Enceladus and at phase angles (Sun-Enceladus-spacecraft) ranging from 44 to 38 degrees. Resolution in the original images ranges from about 80 to 30 meters (260 to 100 feet) per pixel.


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