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.

                               2024 August 25
   [2]A light-colored spherical body is shown mostly illuminated against a
   dark background. Many craters are visible. Unusual blue stripes meander
        on the surface. Please see the explanation for more detailed
                                information.

                  Fresh Tiger Stripes on Saturn's Enceladus
   Image Credit: [3]NASA, [4]ESA, [5]JPL, [6]SSI, [7]Cassini Imaging Team

   Explanation: Do underground oceans vent through canyons on Saturn's
   moon Enceladus? Long features dubbed tiger stripes are known to be
   [8]spewing ice from the moon's icy interior into space, creating a
   cloud of fine ice particles over the moon's South Pole and creating
   [9]Saturn's mysterious [10]E-ring. Evidence for this has come from the
   [11]robot Cassini spacecraft that orbited [12]Saturn from 2004 to 2017.
   [13]Pictured here, a high resolution image of [14]Enceladus is shown
   from a close flyby. The unusual surface features dubbed [15]tiger
   stripes are visible in false-color blue. Why [16]Enceladus is active
   remains a mystery, as the neighboring moon [17]Mimas, approximately the
   same size, appears [18]quite dead. An [19]analysis of [20]ejected ice
   grains has yielded evidence that complex organic molecules exist inside
   Enceladus. These large carbon-rich [21]molecules bolster -- but do not
   prove -- that oceans under Enceladus' surface could [22]contain life.

              Explore Your Universe: [23]Random APOD Generator
                        Tomorrow's picture: sky wows
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    Authors & editors: [35]Robert Nemiroff ([36]MTU) & [37]Jerry Bonnell
                                 ([38]UMCP)
          NASA Official: Amber Straughn [39]Specific rights apply.
            [40]NASA Web Privacy, [41]Accessibility, [42]Notices;
                A service of: [43]ASD at [44]NASA / [45]GSFC,
                         [46]NASA Science Activation
                           & [47]Michigan Tech. U.

References

   1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
   2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2408/EnceladusStripes_Cassini_3237.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://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap071013.html
   9. https://science.nasa.gov/saturn/
  10. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap070327.html
  11. https://science.nasa.gov/mission/cassini/
  12. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saturn
  13. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA06254
  14. https://science.nasa.gov/saturn/moons/enceladus/
  15. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiger
  16. http://apod.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search?tquery=Enceladus
  17. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap210531.html
  18. https://youtu.be/4vuW6tQ0218
  19. https://www.nasa.gov/missions/cassini/new-organic-compounds-found-in-enceladus-ice-grains/
  20. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap170416.html
  21. https://gizmodo.com/the-discovery-of-complex-organic-molecules-on-saturn-s-1827173141
  22. https://www.nasa.gov/missions/cassini/nasa-study-finds-life-sparking-energy-source-and-molecule-at-enceladus/
  23. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/random_apod.html
  24. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap240824.html
  25. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
  26. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html
  27. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html
  28. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search
  29. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html
  30. https://apod.com/feed.rss
  31. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html
  32. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html
  33. https://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=240825
  34. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap240826.html
  35. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html
  36. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/
  37. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html
  38. http://www.astro.umd.edu/
  39. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply
  40. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html
  41. https://www.nasa.gov/general/accessibility/
  42. https://www.nasa.gov/privacy/
  43. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/
  44. https://www.nasa.gov/
  45. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/
  46. https://science.nasa.gov/learners
  47. http://www.mtu.edu/