Another great image from the latest flyby of Enceladus by the Cassini spacecraft, this one shows three frigid plumes firing off into space from the moon’s south pole.

More images from the flyby can be seen on my previous posts, or by going to the CICLOPS site listed in the sidebar.

This last flyby of Enceladus, Cassini’s eighth so far, was the last sunlit view of the “tiger stripe” fissures before they’ll be hidden in darkness during the moon’s winter. The fissures are the source of the ice geysers that have attracted so much attention over the past few years.

“These first raw images are spectacular, and paint an even more fascinating picture of Enceladus.”

– Bob Pappalardo, Cassini mission scientist

Raw image: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute

(Oh, and sorry about the post title. 😉 )