Photos: Enceladus, Saturn's Cold, Bright Moon

Saturn's Moon Enceladus, Captured by Cassini

This photo shows the leading hemisphere of Saturn's moon Enceladus. The image was captured on Nov. 6, 2011 by NASA's Cassini spacecraft, when the probe was about 67,700 miles (109,000 kilometers) from the icy moon.

Surface Grooves on Saturn Moon Enceladus

This image shows grooves in the southern part of Saturn's moon Enceladus. The image was created using synthetic-aperture radar (SAR) data acquired by NASA's Cassini spacecraft on Nov. 6, 2011. The radar image is overlaid in light blue over an earlier visible-light image.

Enceladus and Saturn's Rings

NASA's Cassini spacecraft obtained this unprocessed image of Enceladus on Nov. 6, 2011 and received on Earth November 7, 2011. The camera was pointing toward Enceladus from a distance of approximately 67,100 miles (144,790 kilometers), and the image was taken using the CL1 and CL2 filters.

Enceladus Flyby — Nov. 6, 2011

This raw, unprocessed image of Saturn's moon Enceladus was taken by NASA's Cassini spacecraft on Nov. 6, 2011 and received on Earth November 7, 2011. The camera was pointing toward Enceladus from a distance of approximately 67,100 miles (108,044 kilometers), and the image was taken using the CL1 and CL2 filters.

Saturn Photographed with Four Moons

In this view, the giant orange moon Titan casts a large shadow onto Saturn's north polar hood. Below Titan, near the ring plane and to the left is the moon Mimas, casting a much smaller shadow onto Saturn's equatorial cloud tops. Farther to the left, and off Saturn's disk, are the bright moon Dione and the fainter moon Enceladus.

Enceladus on April 24, 2007

An unprocessed image of Enceladus taken on April 24, 2007.

Mosaic of Saturn's Moon Enceladus

This sweeping mosaic of Saturn's moon Enceladus provides broad regional context for the ultra-sharp, close-up views NASA's Cassini spacecraft acquired minutes earlier, during its flyby on Aug. 11, 2008.

Three-image Mosaic of Enceladus' North Polar Region

This three-image mosaic is the highest resolution view yet obtained of Enceladus' north polar region. The view looks southward over cratered plains from high above the north pole of Enceladus. NASA's Cassini probe caught this view during a March 12, 2008 flyby.

Water Geysers on Saturn Moon Take Center Stage

This raw, unprocessed image of Enceladus was taken by NASA's Cassini probe on Nov. 2, 2009. Bright plumes of water vapor are visible on the moon's south pole.

Enceladus Rains Water on Saturn

At least four distinct plumes of water ice spew out from the south polar region of Saturn's moon Enceladus. The image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on Dec. 25, 2009.