PIA07727: Modeling "Warm" Ice on Enceladus
 Target Name:  Enceladus
 Is a satellite of:  Saturn
 Mission:  Cassini-Huygens
 Spacecraft:  Cassini Orbiter
 Instrument:  Imaging Science Subsystem 
 Product Size:  960 x 720 pixels (w x h)
 Produced By:  Cassini Imaging Team
 Primary Data Set:  Cassini
 Full-Res TIFF:  PIA07727.tif (2.077 MB)
 Full-Res JPEG:  PIA07727.jpg (54.71 kB)

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Original Caption Released with Image:

This graphic represents a possible model for mechanisms that could generate the water vapor and tiny ice particles detected by Cassini over the southern polar terrain on Enceladus. This model shows sublimation of an ammonia-water "slush" or "slurry" on the surface. Sublimation is to cause to change directly from a solid to a gas, or from a gas to a solid, without becoming a liquid.

For other models being considered by scientists, see also PIA07725 and PIA07726.

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.

For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov. For additional images visit the Cassini imaging team homepage http://ciclops.org.

Image Credit:
NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute

Image Addition Date:
2005-08-30