Last Look

The Cassini spacecraft snapped this sequence of images of Saturn's moon Enceladus passing in front of Saturn itself on December 19. It was the craft's final close pass by Enceladus. (Click for the full-resolution image to see the animation.) The moon is one of the most intriguing in the solar system because geysers of water and ice from a deep ocean squirt into space through cracks at the south pole. Enceladus' ocean has all the ingredients for life (water, nutrients, and a source of energy), although so far there is no evidence that life actually exists there. Cassini will scan Enceladus from afar several more times before its mission ends in September 2017, but this was the final close approach, with a minimum distance of 3,106 miles. [NASA/JPL/SSI]