Awesome Image of Saturn's Moon Iapetus and Its Incredible Back-bone Looking Mountain Range

Phys.org ^ | April 21, 2014 | NASA

[lbryce]

Orginal Title:Study of Equatorial Ridge on Iapetus Suggests Exogenic Origin
You Really Don't Prefer The Original Title, Do You?

A combined team of researchers from Brown University in Rhode Island and the Lunar and Planetary Institute in Texas is suggesting in a paper they've uploaded to the preprint server arXiv, that an equatorial mountainous ridge on one of Saturn's moons has an exogenic origin. They are basing their theory on 3D models of the moon they've created and an analysis of the types of peaks present.

Iapetus, the 3rd largest of Saturn's approximately 60 moons, is distinct for two reasons. One is its odd two-tone coloring; the other is the back-bone looking mountain range straddling part of its equator. Scientists have been puzzled by the origin of the mountain range as the moon doesn't have other geologic qualities that could have given rise to it, such as shifting plates or volcanic activity. Thus, some have suggested that the mountains came from above, rather than below, or in other words, they have an exogenic origin, meaning they came from somewhere else.

[Slyfox]

Mickey, is that you?

[lbryce]

Why,you sly fox; how’d you figure it out?

[Monkey Face]

Looks like two moons did a High Five!

[SunkenCiv]

Interaction with at least one other body would probably be the explanation, during capture by Saturn, for example. :’)

[Monkey Face]

See?

[BenLurkin]

bttt

[Gefn]

No Waffle Houses in NJ. I have to drive over 40 miles to Allentown, PA to get my fix.

If I had won the Powerball lottery, I would have invested in one. My dad and I would be very happy campers. We would have gone me every morning for coffee and awesome food.

[Gefn]

I dream about such places almost nightly, ever since 4th grade when I found a book on astronomy, and fell in love withJupiter and Saturn

I have such incredible vivid dreams, but then, given the way the world is today, I like dreaming about these places, unspoiled by humans.

(Please forgive me. I had a miserable day today where I personally saw people not treating each other nice when I ran an errand for my mother, . )

[Fledermaus]

[Slyfox]

Why,you sly fox; how’d you figure it out?

Minnie spilled her guts over one Reese's Peanut Butter cup.

[RegulatorCountry]

I’ve seen similar from spring plowing. Hint of a depression on each side, which is where the material forming the “ridge” came from. Implication would be that the moon was grazed by a fairly large, irregularly shaped asteroid.

[citizen]

That sounds great! Good luck on that Powerball.

[alexander_busek]

It appears to have been hit millions of times by meteorites.

Gee, it does, doesn't it?

I wonder how that could be?

Regards,

[alexander_busek]

Iapetus is tidally locked, which means that one side constantly faces the Sun Saturn.

There, fixed it fer yuh!

Regards,

[morphing libertarian]

I’ll be bak!

[Fresh Wind]

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

Check out:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iapetus_(moon)

Iapetus is mostly ice. It’s period of rotation is 79 days. When the dark side faces the sun, ice sublimates and some it is redeposited on the light side, which makes the dark side darker and the light side lighter. The craters are made of ice, on which more ice constantly precipitates.