The tortured terrain of Enceladus (en-SELL-a-dus) comes into light in this image taken by Cassini last October. This is actually a false-color mosaic of 28 images, assembled by the imaging operations center in Boulder, CO. The bluish tints are used to highlight features on the moon’s surface and show different densities of surface material. I rotated this photo clockwise 90º for composition; the moon’s south pole is at left.

Enceladus, one of Saturn’s inner moons, only a tenth the size of our Moon, is of interest right now because it has recently been discovered to have active geysers of what’s believed to be water ice emanating from fractures (officially called “sulci”, but also known as “tiger stripes”) in its southern region. These jets spew out hundreds of miles into space, and may contribute material to Saturn’s ring system. Multiple flybys of Enceladus have been planned to learn more about these jets and their composition. Although surface temperatures on the moon are -300º F, its ice geysers suggest the possibility of liquid water existing beneath its surface.

The photo above is actually part of a February poll on best Cassini images of 2008…see the 15 selected images and vote on your favorite here!

Image credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute