Media Information

 
 
 
Collection:
NASA Cassini-Huygens Collection
Title:
Enceladus Atmosphere -- Star Struck
Description:
Enceladus Atmosphere -- Star Struck
Full Description:
During the July 14, 2005, flyby of Saturn's moon Enceladus, Cassini's ultraviolet imaging spectrograph made the first direct detection of an atmosphere, first suggested by Cassini magnetometer measurements.

The ultraviolet imaging spectrograph observed the star Gamma Orionis as Enceladus crossed in front of the star. The light of the star dimmed as it was obscured by the atmosphere before being blocked entirely by Enceladus itself. The spectrum of the starlight changed as it passed through the atmosphere, indicating the presence of water vapor.

The ultraviolet imaging spectrograph results suggest that the atmosphere of Enceladus is not constant and may be consistent with a greater amount of atmospheric gas near the south polar region. The presence of water vapor is more consistent with warm water ice than with magnetospheric sputtering.

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 mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter was designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The ultraviolet imaging spectrograph was built at, and the team is based at the University of Colorado, Boulder.

For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit http://saturn.jpl.n…. The ultraviolet imaging spectrograph team home page is at http://lasp.colorad….

Credit: NASA/JPL/University of Colorado
Date:
July 29, 2005
Keywords:
gallery
Keywords:
images
Keywords:
Cassini
Keywords:
mission
Keywords:
Huygens
Keywords:
probe
Keywords:
Saturn
Keywords:
explore
Keywords:
videos
Keywords:
movies
Keywords:
Jupiter
Keywords:
flyby
Keywords:
spacecraft
Keywords:
assembly
Keywords:
launch
Keywords:
flight
Keywords:
operations facilities
Keywords:
mpeg
Keywords:
Quicktime
facet_what:
Saturn
facet_what:
Cassini
facet_what:
Jupiter
facet_what:
Cassini-Huygens
facet_what:
Huygens Probe
facet_what:
Moon
facet_what:
Cassini Orbiter
facet_what:
Polar
facet_what:
Enceladus
facet_what:
Magnetometer
facet_what:
Ultraviolet Imaging Spectrograph (UVIS)
facet_where:
Saturn
facet_where:
Jupiter
facet_where:
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
facet_where:
California
facet_where:
Washington
facet_where:
Enceladus
facet_where:
Colorado
facet_where:
Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)
facet_where:
Washington, D.C.
facet_when:
July 14, 2005
facet_when:
July 29, 2005
facet_when_year:
2005
UID:
SPD-SATRN-1630
original url:

Enceladus Atmosphere -- Star Struck