The Moon: Enceladus of Saturn
Adam Roch 10/31/12 Mr. Prince 3rd Period
Research and Report on the Current State of Knowledge of:
Certain Small Bodies in the Solar System
Enceladus
Type of object- Moon (Saturn)
Size- Enceladus has a mean diameter of 314 miles, one-seventh the diameter of our Moon. In diameter Enceladus is small enough to fit within the length of the island of Great Britain. It could also fit comfortably within the states of Arizona or Colorado, although as a spherical object its surface area is much greater, just over 310,000 miles2, about 15% larger than Texas. Picture to scale^
Location- Enceladus is one of the major inner satellites of Saturn. It is the fourteenth satellite when ordered by distance from Saturn
Composition- Enceladus has a density of 1.61 g/cm³ this density is higher than Saturn 's other mid-sized icy satellites, indicating that Enceladus contains a greater percentage of silicates and iron. With additional material besides water ice, Enceladus’ interior may have experienced comparatively more heating from the decay of radioactive elements.
Appearance- Enceladus reflects almost 100 percent of the sunlight that strikes it. Parts of Enceladus show craters no larger than 35 km in diameter. Other areas show regions with no craters, indicating major resurfacing events in the geologically recent past. There are fissures, plains, corrugated terrain and other crustal deformations. Up close picture of Enceladus’ surface
Temperature- Enceladus has a surface temperature of -330 Fahrenheit.
History-Enceladus was discovered by Fredrick William Herschel on August 28, 1789, during the first use of his new 1.2 m telescope, then the largest in the world.
Volcanism- In 2005 the Cassini spacecraft performed several close flybys of Enceladus, revealing the moon 's surface and environment in greater detail. In particular, the probe discovered a water-rich plume venting from the moon 's South Polar Region. This discovery, along with the presence of escaping
Research and Report on the Current State of Knowledge of:
Certain Small Bodies in the Solar System
Enceladus
Type of object- Moon (Saturn)
Size- Enceladus has a mean diameter of 314 miles, one-seventh the diameter of our Moon. In diameter Enceladus is small enough to fit within the length of the island of Great Britain. It could also fit comfortably within the states of Arizona or Colorado, although as a spherical object its surface area is much greater, just over 310,000 miles2, about 15% larger than Texas. Picture to scale^
Location- Enceladus is one of the major inner satellites of Saturn. It is the fourteenth satellite when ordered by distance from Saturn
Composition- Enceladus has a density of 1.61 g/cm³ this density is higher than Saturn 's other mid-sized icy satellites, indicating that Enceladus contains a greater percentage of silicates and iron. With additional material besides water ice, Enceladus’ interior may have experienced comparatively more heating from the decay of radioactive elements.
Appearance- Enceladus reflects almost 100 percent of the sunlight that strikes it. Parts of Enceladus show craters no larger than 35 km in diameter. Other areas show regions with no craters, indicating major resurfacing events in the geologically recent past. There are fissures, plains, corrugated terrain and other crustal deformations. Up close picture of Enceladus’ surface
Temperature- Enceladus has a surface temperature of -330 Fahrenheit.
History-Enceladus was discovered by Fredrick William Herschel on August 28, 1789, during the first use of his new 1.2 m telescope, then the largest in the world.
Volcanism- In 2005 the Cassini spacecraft performed several close flybys of Enceladus, revealing the moon 's surface and environment in greater detail. In particular, the probe discovered a water-rich plume venting from the moon 's South Polar Region. This discovery, along with the presence of escaping
Citations: "Enceladus: Overview." nasa.gov. N.p.. Web. 31 Oct 2012. . N.p.. Web. 31 Oct 2012. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enceladus_(moon)>. Arnett, Bill. N.p., 30 2007. Web. 31 Oct 2012. <http://nineplanets.org/enceladus.html>.