NASA Cassini Spacecraft Flies By Icy, Oceanic World, Enceladus

NASA's Cassini spacecraft has officially begun transmitting the latest images of Saturn's icy, geologically active moon, Enceladus. Now, scientists are taking a closer look at the stunning geysers captured in these new images.

"Cassini's stunning images are providing us a quick look at Enceladus from this ultra-close flyby, but some of the most exciting science is yet to come," said Linda Spilker, one of the researchers, in a news release.

Researchers are planning on studying data from Cassini's gas analyzer and dust detector instruments, which directly sampled the moon's plume of gas and dust-sized particles during the flyby. Those analyses are likely to take several weeks, but should provide important insights about the composition of the global ocean beneath Enceladus' surface and any hydrothermal activity occurring on the ocean floor.

In fact, the new information may tell researchers whether this small ocean world is a target for future exploration in search of habitable environments in our solar system beyond Earth. If this ocean is active, it's possible that small organisms may thrive within it.

With that said, it will be some time before researchers fully look through all of the information.

Cassini's final encounter with Enceladus will take place on Dec. 19, which is when the spacecraft will measure the amount of heat coming from the moon's interior.

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