Moon spray.Geysers The examples and perspective in this USA may not represent a worldwide view of the subject. Please [ improve this article] or discuss the issue on the talk page. This is an alphabetical list of notable geysers, a type of erupting hot spring: adj. Impossible to dispute; unquestionable: incontrovertible proof of the defendant's innocence. in·con proof that the moon is geologically active. Recent images taken by the Cassini spacecraft, which has toured the Saturnian system since July 2004, show the jets shooting far above the icy satellite's south-polar region. A spectrometer on Cassini had previously detected a large cloud of water vapor above the south pole South Pole, southern end of the earth's axis, lat. 90° S. It is distinguished from the south magnetic pole. The South Pole was reached by Roald Amundsen, a Norwegian explorer, in 1911. See Antarctica. when the craft passed within 175 kilometers of Enceladus last July (SN: 8/27/05, p. 141). Researchers conjectured that linear surface fractures at the pole, dubbed tiger stripes, provide a conduit for ice to vaporize va·por·ize v. To convert or be converted into a vapor. Vaporize To dissolve solid material or convert it into smoke or gas. from the moon and continually replenish the cloud. The moon is known to feed material to Saturn's tenuous E ring. The new images, combined with spectra that identify ice particles in the geysers, suggest how that transfer could be made. Pictures released by NASA NASA: see National Aeronautics and Space Administration. NASA in full National Aeronautics and Space Administration Independent U.S. show that the jets soar up to 300 km above the surface of Enceladus. The moon itself is only about 300 km in diameter. For planetary scientists, "there is little that can compare to the sighting of activity on another solar system body," says Cassini imaging team leader Carolyn Porco of the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colo. "This has been a heart stopper."--R C. |
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