Cassini Captures Pictures of Saturn’s Enceladus and Titan Moons

Dec 28, 2013 09:35 AM EST | Matt Mercuro

Cassini has been soaring near Saturn since 1997, and NASA recently revealed new Cassini photographs of the planet and its two moons, Enceladus and Titan, just in time for the holidays.

"During this, our tenth holiday season at Saturn, we hope that these images from Cassini remind everyone the world over of the significance of our discoveries in exploring such a remote and beautiful planetary system," Carolyn Porco, Cassini imaging team leader, based at the Space Science Institute, said according to a NASA press release.

A photo of Saturn released this week reminded NASA experts of a holiday ornament, despite being in its natural color.

The photo package includes unique views of Enceladus that reveals its surface features, like "fissures, fractures and ridges decorating the icy moon's surface," according to the press release.

The package also contains photos of Saturn's largest moon called Titan.

Click here to see the photo package.

Many researchers consider Titan the only viable bodied moon in the entire solar system, as it is the only other location in the solar system to have stable liquids, according to NASA experts.

NASA has said a number of times how important Cassini is towards the discovery of life outside of Earth.

"Until Cassini arrived at Saturn, we didn't know about the hydrocarbon lakes of Titan, the active drama of Enceladus' jets, and the intricate patterns at Saturn's poles," Linda Spilker, the Cassini project scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, said in a statement, according to NASA.

Cassini is expected to remain in outer space until at least 2017, according to NASA.

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