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Thursday, October 28, 2010

Photo: Dive Into Saturn Moon's Jets Shows Ingredients for Life


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Heat radiates from fractures known as tiger stripes near the south pole of Saturn's moon Enceladus in an infrared image recently captured by NASA's Cassini spacecraft.

The craft completed its closest flyby yet of the moon's famous plumes, which emanate from the tiger stripes. In addition to showing that the heat directly corresponds to the fractures, the craft "tasted" organics within the icy plumes.

Image courtesy NASA/JPL/GSFC/SwRI/SSI