CICLOPS: Cassini Imaging Central Laboratory for OPerationS
Boulder Strewn Surface

Boulder Strewn Surface
PIA 06250
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Boulder Strewn Surface
PIA 06251
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Boulder Strewn Surface
PIA 06252
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   The tortured southern polar terrain of Enceladus appears strewn with great boulders of ice in these two fantastic views - the highest resolution images thus far obtained by Cassini on any world.

This comparison view consists of a wide angle camera image (left) for context, and a high-resolution narrow angle camera image (right). The two images were acquired at an altitude of approximately 208 kilometers (129 miles) as Cassini made its closest approach yet to Enceladus.

The wide angle view shows what appears to be a geologically youthful, tectonically fractured terrain.

In the narrow angle view, some smearing of the image due to spacecraft motion is apparent. Both of these views were acquired as Enceladus raced past Cassini's field of view near the time of closest approach. At the time, the imaging cameras were pointed close to the moon's limb, rather than directly below the spacecraft: this allowed for less 'motion blur' than would have been apparent had the cameras pointed straight down. Thus, the terrain imaged here was actually at a distance of 319 kilometers (198 miles) from Cassini.

At the fine scale afforded by the narrow angle view, the surface is dominated by ice blocks between 10 and 100 meters across. The origin of these icy boulders is enigmatic. Scientists are interested in studying the sizes and numbers of the blocks in this bizarre scene, and in understanding whether terrain covered with boulders is common on Enceladus.

The two views are also reproduced separately here as well.

Image scale is about 4 meters (13 feet) per pixel in the narrow angle image and about 37 meters (121 feet) per pixel in the wide angle camera image. The wide angle image has been magnified by a factor of two. Both images have been contrast enhanced to improve the visibility of surface features.

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 Cassini-Huygens mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The imaging team consists of scientists from the US, England, France, and Germany. The imaging operations center and team lead (Dr. C. Porco) are based at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colo.

For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission, visit http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov and the Cassini imaging team home page, http://ciclops.org.

Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute
Released: July 26, 2005 (PIA 06252, 06251, 06250)
Image/Caption Information