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Emily Lakdawalla • Oct 07, 2011

Saturnlit moon, sunlit fountains

It's been a week of very heavy science on this blog, so I thought it'd be nice to go into the weekend with a post in which a breathtaking picture speaks for itself, without needing my thousands of words. Here is Enceladus, its south polar plumes lit by sunlight, its seamed nightside washed with the yellow glow of Saturnlight. The image is part of the latest quarterly deposit of data into NASA's Planetary Data System made by the Cassini team this week.

Fountains of Enceladus in Saturnlit color
Fountains of Enceladus in Saturnlit color Here is Enceladus, its south polar plumes lit by sunlight, its seamed nightside washed with the yellow glow of Saturnlight.Image: NASA / JPL-Caltech / SSI / Gordan Ugarkovic

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