New Enceladus Image: Bright Ice, Dirty Ice

This image is a color view released by CICLOPS showing Saturn's A, B, and F rings as well as Enceladus. This color view highlights the slight compositional differences between Enceladus and the rings. In both cases, water ice is the main "surface" constituent. However, the rings here appear slightly pale yellow, indicating contamination from dust and organics. Enceladus' surface, in contrast, is a very bright white with patches of blue. This indicates that it has been able to maintain a more prestine surface. From higher resolution images, this is likely due to a combination of cryovolcanism and tectonic resurfacing.