APOD: 2026 November 5 – Enceladus in Silhouette
The post APOD: 2026 November 5 – Enceladus in Silhouette appeared first on NASA Science .
On November 5, 2026, the Astronomy Picture of the Day featured a Cassini spacecraft image of Enceladus backlit by the Sun. Enceladus, a tantalizing world within our Solar System, reveals plumes continuously spewing into space from its south pole in the dramatic illumination. Discovered by Cassini in 2005, these icy plumes are believed to be connected with an ocean beneath the moon's ice shell. The plumes directly feed Saturn's outer, tenuous E ring and give Enceladus a reflective surface comparable to snow.
Surrounding the plumes in the image are Saturn's icy rings, which scatter sunlight toward Cassini's cameras. In the lower right corner of the photograph, the night side of Pandora, an 80 kilometer diameter moon, is faintly lit by Saturnlight. The image was captured by the Cassini Imaging Team using the Space Telescope Science Institute, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and NASA.
Authored and edited by Jerry Bonnell, Cecilia Chirenti, Robert Nemiroff, and Keighley Rockcliffe, the image served as a service of the ASD at NASA/GSFC, NASA Science Activation, and Michigan Tech University.
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- APOD: 2026 November 5 – Enceladus in Silhouette science.nasa.gov
