Saturn's moon Enceladus.
Numerous blue-green fractures can be seen in this false-color mosaic taken during Cassini's second close flyby of Enceladus, on March 9, 2005. The mosaic shows the anti-Saturnian hemisphere of Enceladus, the side that always faces away from Saturn. This region contains a number of tectonic and impact features and shows how these two geologic forces interact on Enceladus. The center left portion of this mosaic is dominated by Diyar Planitia. Like Sarandib Planitia observed in the previous Enceladus flyby, the region is characterized by low ridges and troughs. Throughout this hemisphere, fractures of all sizes disrupt the previously existing cratered terrain and even the comparatively youthful Diyar Planitia. Many of the younger fractures have blue-green walls, revealing coarse-grained water ice in the top layers of Enceladus' lithosphere, compared to the fine-grained ice that coats much of Enceladus' surface. The blue-green color is very similar to the coatings surrounding the south polar tiger stripes.
Size: 4200px × 4200px
Photo credit: © Stocktrek Images / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No
Keywords: color, cracks, craters, crust, deposits, enceladus, false, faults, fissures, ice, icy, image, lunar, moons, mosaic, object, outdoors, photography, saturn, shadows, single, space, surface, terrain, texture, turquoise, vertical, view, water, white
