Mysterious, Graffiti-like Red Streaks Spotted on Saturn's Battered Moon, Tethys

Scientists have spotted some unusual, graffiti-like streaks on Saturn's moon, Tethys. New, enhanced-color images from NASA's Cassini spacecraft reveal arc-shaped, reddish lines across the moon.

The red arcs are narrow, curved lines on the moon's surface. They're actually among the most unusual color features on Saturn's moons to be revealed on Cassini's cameras. The images themselves were taken using clear, green, infrared and ultraviolet spectral filters. These were combined to create the enhanced-color views, which highlight subtle color differences not normally visible to human eyes.

A few of the red arcs can actually be seen faintly in observations that were made earlier in the Cassini mission. The new color images, though, are the first to show large northern areas of Tethys under the illumination and viewing conditions necessary to see the arcs clearly. As the Saturn system moved into its northern hemisphere summer over the past few years, northern latitudes have become increasingly well illuminated. As a result, the arcs have become clearly visible for the first time.

"The red arcs must be geologically young because they cut across older features like impact craters, but we don't know their age in years," said Paul Helfenstein, a Cassini imaging scientist, in a news release. "If the stain is only a thin, colored veneer on the icy soil, exposure to the space environment at Tethys' surface might eras them on relatively short time scales."

The new findings reveal a bit more about Tethys. With that said, scientists will have to continue their studies in order to learn a bit more about the moon and potentially find out what the red streaks on its surface really are.

For more information about the Cassini mission, visit NASA's website.

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