Enhanced image of the plumes on Enceladus, November 2005

Recent NASA/ESA/ASI Cassini images of Saturn's moon Enceladus backlit by the Sun show the fountain-like sprays of the fine material that tower over the south polar region.

The image was taken in November 2005 looking more or less broadside at the 'tiger stripe' fractures observed in earlier Enceladus images.

The greatly enhanced and colourised image shows the enormous extent of the fainter, larger-scale component of the plume.