APOD: 2026 November 5 – Enceladus in Silhouette

On November 5, 2026, the Astronomy Picture of the Day featured an image of Enceladus backlit by the Sun, taken by the Cassini spacecraft on November 1, 2009. This unique perspective revealed the plumes continuously erupting from the south pole of Saturn's moon, Enceladus, which measures 500 kilometers in diameter. Discovered by Cassini in 2005, these icy plumes are believed to be connected to an ocean beneath the moon's icy shell, and they supply material to Saturn's outer, tenuous E ring.

The plumes also cause Enceladus to be as reflective as snow. The image also showcased Saturn's icy rings scattering sunlight towards the spacecraft's cameras, and the night side of Pandora, an 80 kilometer diameter moon, faintly lit by Saturnlight in the lower right corner of the scene. The image was captured by the Cassini Imaging Team, the Space Science Institute, JPL, ESA, and NASA, with contributions from Jerry Bonnell, Cecilia Chirenti, Robert Nemiroff, and Keighley Rockcliffe.