Latest Enceladus Stories

A monster storm spawning bolts of lightning 10,000 times more powerful than any seen on Earth is raging on the ringed planet Saturn. The powerful electrical storm cropped up in Saturn's southern hemisphere five months ago, when it was first spotted by NASA's Cassini spacecraft, and has persevered to become the planet's longest continuously recorded tempest to date. "We saw similar storms in 2004 and 2006 that each lasted for nearly a month, but this storm is...

NEW YORK — Stunning images of Saturn and its moons will bring the ringed planet down to Earth for visitors at the American Museum of Natural History here starting Saturday. The new exhibition "Saturn: Images from the Cassini-Huygens Mission" offers just a sample of the more than 140,000 images beamed back to Earth across half a billion miles by NASA's Cassini spacecraft. Launched by NASA in 1997, Cassini became the first spacecraft to orbit Saturn in 2004. The...

A selection of the best images from Saturn, its rings and moons will appear in an exhibition opening on April 26 at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City .The show, called "Saturn: Images from the Cassini-Huygens Mission," will run through March 29, 2009. It features dramatic, up-close-and-personal images in small individual views and super-large mosaics. Roughly 50 images taken by the Cassini-Huygens mission in visible light, infrared and radar have been...

NASA is extending the international Cassini-Huygens mission by two years. The historic spacecraft's stunning discoveries and images have revolutionized our knowledge of Saturn and its moons. Cassini's mission originally had been scheduled to end in July 2008. The newly-announced two-year extension will include 60 additional orbits of Saturn and more flybys of its exotic moons. These will include 26 flybys of Titan, seven of Enceladus, and one each of Dione, Rhea and Helene. The extension also...

NASA will turn control of the Cassini spacecraft at Saturn over to students for a day in a contest aimed at boosting interest in science among today's youth. An essay contest for students in grades 5 through 12 will determine which of three science targets Cassini will photograph on June 10, the space agency announced late Thursday. Cassini scientists regularly debate exactly which images of Saturn's many moons and rings will produce the most science results, a task they are...

Could microbial life exist inside Enceladus, where no sunlight reaches, photosynthesis is impossible and no oxygen is available? To answer that question, we need look no farther than our own planet to find examples of the types of exotic ecosystems that could make life possible on Saturn's geyser moon. The answer appears to be, yes, it could be possible. It is this tantalizing potential that brings us back to Enceladus for further study.In recent years, life forms have been found on Earth...

PASADENA, Calif. -- NASA's Cassini spacecraft tasted and sampled a surprising organic brew erupting in geyser-like fashion from Saturn's moon Enceladus during a close flyby on March 12. Scientists are amazed that this tiny moon is so active, "hot" and brimming with water vapor and organic chemicals. New heat maps of the surface show higher temperatures than previously known in the south polar region, with hot tracks running the length of giant fissures. Additionally, scientists say...

One of Saturn's moons may have been home to a body of water, according to scientists who reported their findings at the 39th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference in Houston.With a density similar to pure ice, researchers think that Tethys underwent tidal heating, followed by cooling which could have been responsible for forming the Ithaca Chasma.Erinna Chen and Francis Nimmo, from the University of California, Santa Cruz, proposed that it was Tethys' orbital interaction with Dione, another...

NASA's Cassini spacecraft performed a daring flyby of Saturn's moon Enceladus on Wed., March 12, flying about 15 kilometers per second (32,000 mph) through icy water geyser-like jets. The spacecraft snatched up precious samples that might point to a water ocean or organics inside the little moon. Scientists believe the geysers could provide evidence that liquid water is trapped under the icy crust of Enceladus. The geysers emanate from fractures running along the moon's south pole, spewing...

NASA's Cassini spacecraft will make an unprecedented "in your face" flyby of Saturn's moon Enceladus on Wed., March 12. The spacecraft, orchestrating its closest approach to date, will skirt along the edges of huge Old-Faithful-like geysers erupting from giant fractures on the south pole of Enceladus. Cassini will sample scientifically valuable water-ice, dust and gas in the plume.The source of the geysers is of great interest to scientists who think liquid water, perhaps even an...