Enceladus. Cassini spacecraft images of Enceladus, one of Saturn's moons, backlit by the Sun. Plumes of icy material are extending from the south pola


Enceladus. Cassini spacecraft images of Enceladus, one of Saturn's moons, backlit by the Sun. Plumes of icy material are extending from the south polar region at bottom. It is thought these jets are geysers erupting from subsurface oceans. Enceladus is composed of water ice, silicates and iron. The Cassini-Huygens spacecraft was launched in 1997 to investigate Saturn, its rings and its moons. This image was taken on 16th January 2005.


Size: 3646px × 1744px
Photo credit: © NASA/JPL/SPACE SCIENCE INSTITUTE/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: 16, 2005, 21st, active, astronomical, astronomy, astrophysical, astrophysics, backlit, camera, cassini, cassini-huygens, century, coloured, cryovolcanic, cryovolcanism, cryovolcano, enceladus, erupting, eruption, exploration, exploring, false-coloured, geologically, geology, geyser, icy, january, moon, narrow-angle, planetary, plume, plumes, saturn, saturnian, shadow, solar, space, spacecraft, spray, spraying, system, venting