Figure 1 for Water Vaport & Particles Over Enceladus
This plot shows results from Cassini's ion neutral mass spectrometer and
cosmic dust analyzer, obtained during the spacecraft's close approach to
Enceladus on July 14, 2005.
Within a minute of that closest approach, the two instruments detected
material coming from the surface of the moon. The ion neutral mass
spectrometer measured a large peak in the abundance of water vapor at
approximately 35 seconds before closest approach to Enceladus, as it flew
over the south polar region at an altitude of 270 kilometers (168 miles).
The high rate detector of the cosmic dust analyzer observed a peak in the
number of fine, powder-sized icy particles coming from the surface
approximately a minute before reaching closest approach, at an altitude
of 460 kilometers (286 miles).
The character of these detections is very similar to the venting of vapor
and fine, icy particles from the surfaces of comets when they are warmed
as they near the Sun. On Enceladus however, it is believed that internal
heat, possibly from tidal forces, is responsible for the activity. The
close but different occurrences of the two detections are yielding
important clues to the location of the vents and even the venting process.
The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European
Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory,
a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages
the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The
Cassini orbiter was designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The ion and
neutral mass spectrometer team is based at University of Michigan, Ann
Arbor. The cosmic dust analyzer is operated by scientists at the Max
Planck Institute in Heidelberg, Germany.
For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov.
