CICLOPS: Cassini Imaging Central Laboratory for OPerationS
Hiding Little Brother

Hiding Little Brother
PIA 14582
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   During a flyby of Saturn's moon Enceladus on Oct. 1, 2011, Cassini snapped this portrait of the moon joined by its sibling Epimetheus and the planet's rings.

Enceladus (504 kilometers, 313 miles across) takes up the center of the image, and its famous south polar jets can faintly be seen at the bottom of the image. See PIA11688 to learn more about those jets.

Epimetheus (113 kilometers, 70 miles across) peeps into view from beyond the northern reaches of Enceladus. Lit terrain seen on Enceladus is in the area between the leading hemisphere and anti-Saturn side of the moon. North is up. This view looks toward the northern, sunlit side of the rings from just above the ringplane.

Enceladus and Epimetheus have been contrast enhanced and brightened by a factor 1.8 relative to the rings. Enceladus is closest to the spacecraft here.

The image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera. The view was obtained at a distance of approximately 175,000 kilometers (109,000 miles) from Enceladus and at a Sun-Enceladus-spacecraft, or phase, angle of 151 degrees. Image scale is 1 kilometer (3,433 feet) per pixel on Enceladus.

The Cassini Solstice Mission is a joint United States and European endeavor. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter was designed, developed and assembled at JPL. 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 Solstice Mission visit http://ciclops.org, http://www.nasa.gov/cassini and http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov.

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute
Released: November 14, 2011 (PIA 14582)
Image/Caption Information


Alliance Member Comments
Tonster (Nov 18, 2011 at 4:09 AM):
Yet another spectacular picture. There appear to be two Sulci spewing by Enceladus’ South Pole. Which puzzles me: The Saturn system rotates in the same sense as Earth, which means Enceladus and Epimetheus have to be moving rightwards, as Saturn itself is off Stage Right. Cassini was outside both satellites’ orbits at the time. Wouldn’t that therefore make their sunlit parts the Trailing Hemispheres?
Tonster (Nov 18, 2011 at 4:05 AM):
Yet another spectacular picture. There appear to be two Sulci spewing by Enceladus’ South Pole. A puzzle arises in the caption, though; The Saturn system rotates in the same sense as Earth, which means Enceladus and Epimetheus have to be moving rightwards, as Saturn itself is off Stage Right. Cassini was outside both satellites’ orbits at the time. Wouldn’t that therefore make their sunlit parts the Trailing Hemispheres?
NeKto (Nov 16, 2011 at 12:14 PM):
After i do all my "buzy" work on the web, I come hear. there is always something pleasant to look at. this image is another example of what draws me here. Carolyn one told me she hoped i came here first. I think i pay a higher compliment by comming here last.
enceladus5 (Nov 14, 2011 at 7:29 PM):
What a beautiful image. More proof of the complexity and serenity of the Saturnian system. Thanks Cassini.
Red_dragon (Nov 14, 2011 at 5:58 PM):
Yet another fascinating perspective trick; it's hard to believe both moons are separated by many thousands of kilometers and not nearly touching. Keep'em coming.