In the coming days, NASA's Cassini spacecraft will make another flyby around Saturn's moon Enceladus. A distinctive feature of today's flight will be the fact that Cassini will travel no more than 25 km from the surface of Enceladus, which will make images of unprecedented clarity.
The press service of the US space department notes that on October 31, Cassini will again follow Enceleda's orbit, but then they will be separated by 196 km.
During the upcoming flyby, Cassini will focus on the mysterious geysers at the south pole of Enceladus. Through the closest approach, NASA hopes to obtain direct data from the analysis of the water vapor of the geysers and gases of Enceladus.
Scientists have been discussing for several years that geysers are nothing more than emissions from the ocean of water located under the icy surface of Enceladus, moreover, this ocean, if it exists, should be relatively warm, therefore, life can exist in it …
Back in 2004, Cassini recorded fountains of water, many hundreds of kilometers high, erupting from four cracks located in the region of the planet's south pole. The water erupting from the bowels of Enceladus forms a "trail", already circling around Saturn itself in the form of a ring. It is not yet entirely clear what is the source of energy that would maintain this level of volcanic activity, unprecedentedly high for such a small satellite. It could have been the energy released during radioactive decay, but dust particles and small pieces of ice were found in the water fountain. To "throw" them hundreds of kilometers up, it takes too much energy. It is possible that the bowels of Enceladus "heat up" tidal waves, but according to today's estimates, their energy is two orders of magnitude less than required.
The discovered geysers periodically spew powerful jets of liquid water and steam. In 2007, Cassini also discovered that the surface temperature of Enceladus in geysers is significantly higher than the average for the satellite. Until recently, scientists believed that the "warmest" part of Enceladus is its equator, where the temperature reaches -193 degrees Celsius. However, as it turned out now, at the south pole of the planet it is 11 degrees higher.
According to the latest data, the depth of the geysers on Enceladus exceeds 300 meters, and all mountain formations that end on the surface of the geysers have a characteristic V-shape.