The new discovery was made possible thanks to the data supplied by NASA’s Cassini spacecraft which observed Saturn for over 13 years before exhausting its fuel supply and plunging into the planet’s atmosphere.
An intriguing discovery has been made by scientists at one of Saturn’s moons, Enceladus, as data supplied by NASA’s Cassini spacecraft points at “strong evidence that the northern hemisphere of the moon has been resurfaced with ice from its interior”, according to a statement by the US space agency.
The data collected via Cassini’s Visible and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer, along with images captured by the spacecraft’s Imaging Science Subsystem, has allowed researchers to make the “new global spectral map of Enceladus”,
And while the new map apparently displays a correlation between infrared signals and geological activity spotted on Enceladus back in 2005 – namely, “enormous plumes of ice grains and vapor” being shot from an ocean concealed beneath icy crust – and which “is easily seen at the south pole”, similar infrared features have also been observed at the moon’s northern hemisphere as well.
Other than revealing that the northern reaches of the moon are covered with fresh ice, this development also suggests that this kind of geological activity, a “resurfacing of the landscape”, has taken place in both of Enceladus’ hemispheres, the statement notes.
While the exact reason for this “resurfacing” in the moon’s north appears to be unclear, likely culprits mentioned in the statement include “icy jets” and “a more gradual movement of ice through fractures in the crust, from the subsurface ocean to the surface”.
Sourse: sputniknews.com
