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During its very close flyby of Enceladus on March 9, 2005, Cassini took images of parts of the icy moon from different viewing angles, allowing the construction of stereo views. These “3D” views, such as the one presented here, are helpful in interpreting the complex topography of this intriguing little world. The scene is an icy landscape that has been scored by tectonic forces. Many of the craters in this terrain have been heavily modified, such as the 10-kilometer (6-mile) wide crater near upper right that has prominent north-south fracturing along its northeastern slope. The anaglyph has been rotated so that north on Enceladus is up. The images for this anaglyph were taken in visible light with the narrow angle camera, from distances ranging from about 26,800 kilometers (16,700 miles, red-colored image) to 11,900 kilometers (7,400 miles, blue-colored image) from Enceladus and at a Sun-Enceladus-spacecraft, or phase, angle ranging from 46 to 44 degrees. Pixel scale in the red image was 160 meters (525 feet) per pixel; scale in the blue image was 70 meters (230 feet) per pixel. A separate, non-stereo version of the scene, showing only the red image, is included for comparison. The images have been contrast-enhanced to aid visibility. |