A few days ago images returned from the NASA spacecraft Cassini.
Cassini came within 50 km of the moons service to return this wonderful photo, but it’s not finished just yet. In another month (and a bit) it will run past again on the 19th December looking to measure the amount of head coming from the interior of the moon.
Why would their be heat in the interior? Well for one thing the Earth has an inner core made up of iron–nickel alloy measuring 5400 °C which is approximately the same temperature as the surface of the Sun…. that’s pretty hot!
This unprocessed “raw” image of Saturn’s icy, geologically active moon Enceladus was acquired by NASA’s Cassini spacecraft during its dramatic Oct. 28, 2015 flyby in which the probe passed about 30 miles (49 kilometers) above the moon’s south polar region. The spacecraft will continue transmitting its data from the Enceladus encounter for the next several days. Cassini’s next and final close Enceladus flyby will take place on Dec. 19, when the spacecraft will measure the amount of heat coming from the moon’s interior.
[…] icy moon Enceladus poses above the gas giant’s icy rings in this Cassini spacecraft image. The dramatic scene […]