Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Porco, C. C
• Helfenstein, P
• Thomas, P. C
• Ingersoll, A. P
• Wisdom, J
• West, R
• Neukum, G
• Denk, T
• Wagner, R
• Roatsch, T
• Kieffer, S
• Turtle, E
• McEwen, A
• Johnson, T. V
• Rathbun, J
• Veverka, J
• Wilson, D
• Perry, J
• Spitale, J
• Brahic, A
• Burns, J. A
• DelGenio, A. D
• Dones, L
• Murray, C. D
• Squyres, S

Titel

Cassini Observes the Active South Pole of Enceladus

Ist Teil von

• Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science), 2006-03, Vol.311 (5766), p.1393-1401

Ort / Verlag

United States: American Association for the Advancement of Science

Erscheinungsjahr

2006

Link zum Volltext

Quelle

Science magazine suite

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• 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 [approximately]55°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.