NASA Does a Close Flyby Of Enceladus and Finds Unusual Formations

The moon Enceladus has been considered extremely unusual for a long time with some of the prior pics coming from 2004.  Now, things have gotten even stranger:

If you thought Saturn’s moon Enceladus couldn’t get any more bizzare — with its magnificent plumes, crazy tiger-stripe-like fissures and global subsurface salty ocean — think again. New images of this moon’s northern region just in from the Cassini spacecraft show surprising and perplexing features: a tortured surface where craters look like they are melting, and fractures that cut straight across the landscape.

 

Here is one statement from a NASA engineer about this unusual and elusive moon!

“We’ve been puzzling over Enceladus’ south pole for so long, time to be puzzled by the north pole!” tweeted NASA engineer Sarah Milkovich, who formerly worked on the Cassini mission.

This is one of the new pics of the surface that looks like drips:

pics

This is another cool pic from a bit farther away!

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This is when they expect more pics:

Then another flyby — Cassini’s final scheduled close flyby of Enceladus — on Dec. 19 will examine how much heat is coming from the moon’s interior from an altitude of 4,999 kilometers (3,106 miles).

And this video shows some graphics and simulations of the mission.  One of the commenters on the thread had this to say:

Absolutely fascinating! I just don’t understand what drove three individuals to down-vote this video. But I could hazard a guess.

We’re looking forward to more data from Cassini and will keep you posted on updates!

thanks to universetoday.com for the great info

thanks to NASA for the pics



28 Comments

  18. Marvin Young said:

    Look at the damn Horizon. When I was out to see for the navy you can see how it curves…. if it was flat then it wouldn’t, but hell what do I know.

    Reply
  19. Adam Asing said:

    Your straight up lying Marvin. There isn’t a place on earth you can see a “curve.” If your gonna claim otherwise, show me proof.

    Picture a flea on a basketball. Imagine its horizon. That what we should be seeing. But we don’t do we? The horizon is not only flat. It is EYE LEVEL, regardless of altitude, every stinking time. Don’t believe me? Google plane images, mountain images, shore images, or just watch this.

    I don’t care.

    Marvin Young here’s your horizon.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LLt5Ylg74pk

    Reply
  25. Jeremy Dombrovski said:

    So, if the world was flat, what’s on the other side and why hasn’t anyone shown proof of the other side? One would think that would be a great tourist attraction

    Reply
  27. Marvin Young said:

    Once again you prove yourself the fool….. no need to explain to you something that has been proven for over a century…. further more you are a special person….

    Reply

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