Enceladus and Tethys Caught Together in Cassini Image

This September 13 image snapped by the NASA Cassini spacecraft shows a part of Saturn's impressive rings, with the moons Enceladus and Tethys in the foreground. The image is taken from a great distance, which explains how the two moons were caught in the same frame.

At the time the image was taken, the orbiter was around 208,000 kilometers (139,000 miles) away from Tethys, a moon that is around 1,062 kilometers (660 miles) across. The spacecraft was about 272,000 kilometers (169,000 miles) away from Enceladus.

Since arriving at the Saturnine system, back in July 2004, the Cassini orbiter has been able to carry out dozens of flybys of interesting moons such as Titan and Enceladus. It observed that the latter releases plumes of organic matter and water molecules from tiger stripe-like features at its south pole.

According to astronomers, Enceladus is a prime target to search for life at other locations outside our solar system. Other such places include the Saturnine moon Titan and the Jovian moon Europa, Universe Today reports.