Bruce Murray Space Image Library

Enceladus in natural color

Enceladus in natural color
Enceladus in natural color This is a wide-angle shot taken during the 14 July 2005 close encounter with Enceladus through red, green, and blue filters. Gordan Ugarkovic has attempted to process the data so that it appears approximately as it would to the human eye. NASA / JPL-Caltech / SSI / Gordan Ugarkovic

The tiger stripes or sulci are darker and bluer than surrounding terrain, but the difference in color is much more subtle than it appears in most Cassini color images, which are typically made with ultraviolet, green, and infrared filters (a broader range of the electromagnetic spectrum) and are stretched to enhance color differences.