Credit: NASA-JPL/Space Science Institute

In its latest flyby of Enceladus, the Cassini spacecraft has captured a veritable array of fountains spraying ice crystals and water above the moon's southern pole - a phenomenon unique in the solar system. Tidal forces created by gravity from the giant ringed planet and its other moons open fissures called "tiger stripes" in the deeply frozen surface of Enceladus. The gravity also warps the moon's ice and creates enough heat to force the ice and water out of the fissures and into space. This image, taken 21 November, will be the last of the geysers for a long time. Soon that region will be shaded from the sun for 15 years, hiding the fountains from Cassini's cameras.

If you register yourself, you won't have to enter these details anymore.
Your IP address is registered (38.107.191.83). On abuse, this will be blocked without warning.

• Archive

• Tiny Amphibian, Long Life
  2010-07-21 16:22:51 - 16 views - 0 reactions
  Credit: Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique It may be...
• WorldWide Telescope
  2010-07-13 18:26:24 - 22 views - 0 reactions
  What is WWT? The WorldWide Telescope (WWT) is a Web 2.0...
• Paperclip
  2010-07-02 08:18:58 - 30 views - 0 reactions
  By Wulffmorgenthaler.com
• Supersonic Winds Rip Alien World
  2010-06-24 08:20:45 - 32 views - 0 reactions
  Credit: ESO/L. Calcada Hurricane Katrina would be regarded as...
• Mystery of Mars Polar Pinwheel Unraveled
  2010-05-26 22:43:35 - 88 views - 0 reactions
  Something strange has happened to Mars's polar ice cap. Instead...

You should also check:
RuudVisser.com (my brother)
Suzanne (my sister)
PuurElementair.nl (a colleague)