NASA's Cassini spacecraft flew through the top of a geyser spewing from Saturn's moon Enceladus on March 12, and discovered water vapor and organic chemicals in surprising abundance, according to NASA. The surface temperature of the moon was also higher than expected along 95-mile-long fissures or "tiger stripes" on the moon's surface. Orange-yellow areas of this image show higher temperatures--up to minus 135 degrees Fahrenheit.
"A completely unexpected surprise is that the chemistry of Enceladus, what's coming out from inside, resembles that of a comet," said Hunter Waite, principal investigator for the Cassini Ion and Neutral Mass Spectrometer at the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio. "Enceladus' brew is like carbonated water with an essence of natural gas," said Waite.
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