Cassini had the temerity to pass close to Saturn’s active moon Enceladus while I was in the Galapagos, so I couldn’t blog about it. Ever vigilant, however, Emily got the goods, including this incredible mosaic.
Emily’s post has lots more info on the pass and the moon itself. Go look.
Edited to add: An oversight on my part; obviously I should have also linked to the original CiCLOPS site as well!
If you went to BadAstronomy.com and found yourself here, never fear: the BA Blog has moved to its new home at Discover Blogs. The original BA site (with the Moon Hoax debunking and all that) is still online, too.
Phil Plait, the creator of Bad Astronomy, is an astronomer, lecturer, and author. After ten years working on Hubble Space Telescope and six more working on astronomy education, he struck out on his own as a writer. He has written two books, dozens of magazine articles, and 12 bazillion blog articles. He is a skeptic, and fights misuses of science as well as praising the wonder of real science.
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August 21st, 2008 at 1:53 pm
The missing parts are alien bases, obvy.
August 21st, 2008 at 2:00 pm
totally OT, but: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26333787/
the effects of vaccine denial are already becoming evident.
August 21st, 2008 at 2:03 pm
MMmmmm… Enceladus. I’m kinda partial to shawarmas, but enceladus will do.
August 21st, 2008 at 2:13 pm
I can’t think of a rhyme for Enceladus,
But I’m glad I have an epiglottis.
August 21st, 2008 at 2:20 pm
Everytime I hear the name Enceladus I get hungry.
August 21st, 2008 at 2:39 pm
EPIC!
August 21st, 2008 at 2:45 pm
Kevin F:
There was an old man,
Who went to Enceladus,
To have his fill of Enchiladas
August 21st, 2008 at 2:55 pm
Shouldn’t there be jets?
August 21st, 2008 at 3:04 pm
Wow! Amazingly tortured surface. (A non-scientific observation, but it reminds me of paint, when you strip it off of the surface of an old peice of furniture.)
August 21st, 2008 at 3:28 pm
Jason beat me to the punch (what an odd expression). It is clearly a NASA coverup to hide something…a big blotted out portion of the photo…you folks are so gullible!!!!!!!! (extra exclamations for dramatic effect)
Pete
August 21st, 2008 at 4:18 pm
Wow, that’s amazing.
Much, much better then the previous best picture by Voyager, which is a whopping 27 years old next tuesday. The picture that is, not the moon.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Enceladus_from_Voyager.jpg
August 21st, 2008 at 4:20 pm
Uhm, please disregard my last post, I forgot the Cassini missions, that passed Enceladus a measly 3 years ago. The actual previous best is this one:
http://space.newscientist.com/data/images/ns/cms/dn13467/dn13467-1_500.jpg
August 21st, 2008 at 4:45 pm
There was an old man from Enceladus
Who used to consistently yell at us
“Stop sending those probes,
They hurt my earlobes
And the smell is obnoxiously hazardous”.
(Best I could do at short notice!)
August 21st, 2008 at 9:06 pm
I think the picture is absolutely gorgeous!
August 21st, 2008 at 10:24 pm
Cassini goes from strength to strength. I LOVE that mission!
August 21st, 2008 at 10:54 pm
I have absolute proof that there was a cover-up! Here’s the photo without the upper left blacked out.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3240/2786250598_03a34398a1_o.jpg
Or maybe I just needed something to do during Blues Clues
August 22nd, 2008 at 3:21 am
Now, there’s a snow ball! Could use that one for the center round of a humongus snowman.
Neat photo.
August 22nd, 2008 at 8:50 am
Obvious 4-wheeler tracks imo. The need a Tread Lightly program asap.
August 22nd, 2008 at 1:23 pm
Hehe, nice poetry people:). Made me laugh.