Saturn Moon, Enceladus, Cassini Image
16-image mosaic of Enceladus was taken during Cassini's first close flyby of this moon of Saturn on 17 February 2005. Mosaic shows the trailing hemisphere of Enceladus - the side of Enceladus that always faces away from the direction of the satellite's orbital motion. This hemisphere is dominated by Sarandib Planitia (just right of center), a region thought to be dominated by smooth plains in NASA Voyager 2 images taken in August 1981, but shown here in much higher resolution images to be covered in low ridges and troughs. Other major features seen in the region include Labtayt Sulci, a 1-kilometer deep canyon running northward from a cusp in the south polar terrain boundary (Cashmere Sulci) at lower right to a set of 1-kilometer-tall ridges (Cufa Dorsa and Ebony Dorsum) east of Sarandib Planitia, as well as Samarkand Sulci, a band of ridges and troughs running along the western margin of Sarandib Planitia almost all the way north to Enceladus' north pole. In contrast to the youthful terrain of Sarandib Planitia and the terrain south of it, the terrain north and west of Sarandib appears much older. These regions are covered with impact craters at various stages of degradation, either from viscous relaxation, or from tectonic activity.
Size: 8804px × 8804px
Photo credit: © Photo Researchers / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: 2000s, 2005, 21st, astronomical, astronomy, astrophotography, cashmere, cassini, cassini-huygens, century, cufa, dorsa, dorsum, ebony, enceladus, exploration, image, labtayt, lunar, moon, photography, planitia, samarkand, sarandib, saturn, space, sulci
