SPECIALSECTION RESEARCH ARTICLE Cassini Observes the Active
Cassini has identified a geologically active province at the south pole of Saturn’s moon Enceladus. In images acquired by the Imaging Science Subsystem (ISS), this region is circumscribed by a chain of folded ridges and troughs at È55-S latitude. The terrain southward of this boundary is distinguish...
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| Language: | English |
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| Online Access: | http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.394.2530 http://groups.csail.mit.edu/mac/users/wisdom/porco-enceladus.pdf |
| Summary: | Cassini has identified a geologically active province at the south pole of Saturn’s moon Enceladus. In images acquired by the Imaging Science Subsystem (ISS), this region is circumscribed by a chain of folded ridges and troughs at È55-S latitude. The terrain southward of this boundary is distinguished by its albedo and color contrasts, elevated temperatures, extreme geologic youth, and narrow tectonic rifts that exhibit coarse-grained ice and coincide with the hottest temperatures measured in the region. Jets of fine icy particles that supply Saturn’s E ring emanate from this province, carried aloft by water vapor probably venting from subsurface reservoirs of liquid water. The shape of Enceladus suggests a possible intense heating epoch in the past by capture into a 1:4 secondary spin/orbit resonance. Within 6 months of entering Saturn orbit on 1 July 2004 UTC, the Cassini spacecraft began a year of intense examination of the major icy satellites of Saturn. |
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