A team of researchers led by Cornell's Radwan Tajeddine examined Cassini data and found evidence that the active south polar region of Enceladus — the fractured terrain seen here at bottom — may have originally been closer to the icy moon's equator. (sciencedaily.com)
Tajeddine believes an asteroid may have struck the moon's current south polar region when it was closer to the equator in the past. (sciencedaily.com)
Image showing the thickness of Enceladus's ice shell, which reaches 35 kilometers in the cratered equatorial regions (shown in yellow) and less than 5 kilometers in the active south polar region (shown in blue). (sciencedaily.com)