Fabulous! Enceladus Raw Flyby Images

By Nancy Atkinson - November 02, 2009 07:37 PM UTC | Planetary Science

Carolyn Porco, the lead for Cassini's imaging team, warned on

Twitter

that the flyby of Saturn's moon Enceladus performed by the spacecraft on Nov. 2 wasn't really an "imaging" flyby, and that we might have to wait until the Nov. 21 flyby for really good images. But just take a look the images returned so far, with stunning looks at the jets shooting from the moon! Another image takes a close look at the surface. These are raw, unprocessed images, but what images they are! This is the second image from today's flyby returned by the spacecraft. See below for more.

[caption id="attachment_43969" align="aligncenter" width="512" caption="Image #3 from the Nov. 2 flyby of Enceladus. Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute"]

[/caption]

Cassini came within about 100 kilometers (62 miles) of the surface. The spacecraft has gone closer during a previous flyby (25 kilometers or 15 miles). This is the third image sent back so far from this flyby, showing the surface of the tiger-striped, geyser-spewing moon. According to the CICLOPS website, this image was taken in visible green light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera at a distance of approximately 14,000 kilometers (8,700 miles) from Enceladus. The plan was for the spacecraft to go deep into the heart of the plume from the geysers on the tiger-striped moon; as of yet no images from the plume have been released. The objective of this flyby was to analyze the particles in the plume with instruments that can detect the size, mass, charge, speed and composition. The spacecraft spent only about a minute in the plume. [caption id="attachment_43970" align="aligncenter" width="580" caption="A far away view of the plumes from Enceladus. Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute"]

[/caption] Here's a view from farther away, with the plumes visible against the backlit moon.

We'll add any more images that become available.

Source:

CICLOPS

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson is a space journalist and author with a passion for telling the stories of people involved in space exploration and astronomy. She is currently retired from daily writing, but worked at Universe Today for 20 years as a writer and editor. She also contributed articles to The Planetary Society, Ad Astra (National Space Society), New Scientist and many other online outlets.

Her 2019 book, "Eight Years to the Moon: The History of the Apollo Missions,” shares the untold stories of engineers and scientists who worked behind the scenes to make the Apollo program so successful, despite the daunting odds against it. Her first book “Incredible Stories From Space: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Missions Changing Our View of the Cosmos” (2016) tells the stories of 37 scientists and engineers that work on several current NASA robotic missions to explore the solar system and beyond.

Nancy is also a NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador, and through this program, she has the opportunity to share her passion of space and astronomy with children and adults through presentations and programs. Nancy's personal website is nancyatkinson.com