Saturn Moons Enceladus And Dione Captured In
New Cassini Probe Flyby Photos
The camera was pointing toward Dione at approximately 8,416 kilometers away, and the image was taken using the CL1 and CL2 filters. This image has not been validated or calibrated.
By: SPACE.com Staff
New Cassini Probe Flyby Photos
NASA's Cassini spacecraft zoomed by two Saturn moons this week to take what scientists say are the last close-up views of the geyser-covered Enceladus and cratered Dione for several years.
Cassini made the two-moon rendezvous on Wednesday (May 2), creeping within 46 miles (74 kilometers) of icy Enceladus before zooming by Dione at a distance of 5,000 miles (8,000 km), NASA officials said in a statement. Raw photos from the Saturn moon flybys reveal Enceladus as a slender crescent, while Dione appears as a battered and bruised body.
"The flybys were the last close encounters of these icy moons that Cassini will make for three years," Cassini mission scientists wrote in the update.
The main goal of Wednesday's swing by Enceladus, a Saturn moon known for its geysers of water ice and vast fissures, was to study the moon's gravitational field using Cassini's radio science instruments. But mission scientists did not let the flyby go without a photo session. [More photos of Enceladus]
The camera was pointing toward Dione at approximately 8,416 kilometers away, and the image was taken using the CL1 and CL2 filters. This image has not been validated or calibrated.
Published: 05/04/2012 03:12 PM EDT on SPACE.com
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