NASA Finds Evidence of "Fresh Ice" on Saturn's Moon Enceladus
upstart writes in with an IRC submission for nutherguy:
NASA finds evidence of "fresh ice" on Saturn's moon Enceladus:
By digging through detailed infrared images of Saturn's icy moon Enceladus - courtesy of NASA's Cassini spacecraft, which met its demise back in 2017 after 13 years of Saturn exploration - NASA scientists say they've found "strong evidence" of fresh ice in the moon's northern hemisphere.
The ice, thought to have originated and resurfaced from Enceladus' interior, could be good news for the prospect of life on Enceladus, which is considered by many scientists to be one of the most promising places to look for life in the solar system.
The dataset, the most detailed global infrared views ever produced of the moon according to the agency, was created using data collected by Cassini's Visible and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (VIMS). It includes scans of variable wavelengths, including visible light and infrared.
Also at NASA.
Photometrically-corrected global infrared mosaics of Enceladus: New implications for its spectral diversity and geological activity (DOI: 10.1016/j.icarus.2020.113848) (DX)
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