English: Enceladus Polar Maps - December 2011

[quarter size]

The northern and southern hemispheres of Enceladus are seen in these polar stereographic maps, mosaicked from the best-available Cassini clear-filter images.

Each map is centered on one of the poles and surface coverage extends to the equator. Grid lines show latitude and longitude in 30-degree increments. The scale in the full-size versions of these maps is 360 feet (110 meters) per pixel. These maps are updated versions of those released in February 2010 (see PIA12565 and PIA12566).

These two maps show that the character of terrains near the north pole differs strongly from those near the south pole. Terrain near the north pole is among the most heavily cratered and oldest on the surface of Enceladus. The northern hemisphere map shows that a broad band of cratered terrain extends from the equator on the Saturn-facing side (centered on 0 degrees longitude), over the pole and to the equator on the anti-Saturn side (centered on 180 degrees longitude). Terrains near the equator and mid-latitudes on the leading (90 degrees west longitude) and trailing (270 degrees west longitude) sides of Enceladus are much less heavily cratered and are characterized by intense zones of fracturing and faulting.