Astronomy Picture of the Day

   [1]Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
      fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
                    written by a professional astronomer.

                                2025 June 10
    [2]A picture of a mostly white orb is shown that has many craters and
    crevasses. Please see the explanation for more detailed information.

                           Enceladus in True Color
   Image Credit: [3]NASA, [4]ESA, [5]JPL, [6]SSI, [7]Cassini Imaging Team

   Explanation: Do oceans under the ice of Saturn's moon [8]Enceladus
   contain life? A reason to think so involves long features -- some
   dubbed tiger stripes -- that are known to be [9]spewing ice from the
   moon's icy interior into space. These surface cracks create clouds of
   fine ice particles over the moon's South Pole and create [10]Saturn's
   mysterious [11]E-ring. Evidence for this has come from the [12]robot
   Cassini spacecraft that orbited [13]Saturn from 2004 to 2017.
   [14]Pictured here, a high resolution image of [15]Enceladus is shown in
   true color from a close flyby. The deep crevasses are partly shadowed.
   Why [16]Enceladus is active remains a mystery, as the neighboring moon
   [17]Mimas, approximately the same size, appears quite dead. A
   [18]analysis of [19]ejected ice grains has yielded evidence that
   complex organic molecules. These large carbon-rich [20]molecules
   bolster -- but do not prove -- that oceans under Enceladus' surface
   could [21]contain life.

        APOD Turns 30!: [22]Free public lecture in Anchorage tomorrow
                             (Wednesday) at 7 pm
                         Tomorrow's picture: top 25
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    Authors & editors: [34]Robert Nemiroff ([35]MTU) & [36]Jerry Bonnell
                                 ([37]UMCP)
          NASA Official: Amber Straughn [38]Specific rights apply.
            [39]NASA Web Privacy, [40]Accessibility, [41]Notices;
                A service of: [42]ASD at [43]NASA / [44]GSFC,
                         [45]NASA Science Activation
                           & [46]Michigan Tech. U.

References

   1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
   2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2506/EnceladusTrue_Cassini_960.jpg
   3. https://www.nasa.gov/
   4. https://www.esa.int/
   5. https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/
   6. https://www.spacescience.org/
   7. http://ciclops.org/
   8. https://science.nasa.gov/saturn/moons/enceladus/
   9. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap071013.html
  10. https://science.nasa.gov/saturn/
  11. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap070327.html
  12. https://science.nasa.gov/mission/cassini/spacecraft/cassini-orbiter/
  13. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saturn
  14. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA17202
  15. https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/moons/saturn-moons/enceladus/in-depth/
  16. https://science.nasa.gov/saturn/moons/enceladus/
  17. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap141021.html
  18. https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/complex-organics-bubble-up-from-enceladus/
  19. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap170416.html
  20. https://gizmodo.com/the-discovery-of-complex-organic-molecules-on-saturn-s-1827173141
  21. https://www.nasa.gov/missions/cassini/nasa-cassini-data-reveals-building-block-for-life-in-enceladus-ocean/
  22. https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=1236113895188422&set=a.439352174864602
  23. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap250609.html
  24. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
  25. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html
  26. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html
  27. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search
  28. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html
  29. https://apod.com/feed.rss
  30. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html
  31. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html
  32. https://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=250610
  33. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap250611.html
  34. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html
  35. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/
  36. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html
  37. http://www.astro.umd.edu/
  38. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply
  39. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html
  40. https://www.nasa.gov/general/accessibility/
  41. https://www.nasa.gov/privacy/
  42. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/
  43. https://www.nasa.gov/
  44. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/
  45. https://science.nasa.gov/learners
  46. http://www.mtu.edu/