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Saturn's 'Ice Queen' Moon Helene Shimmers in New Photo
Space.com ^
| 21 June 2011
| Mike Wall
Posted on 07/02/2011 5:54:14 PM PDT by Windflier
Saturn's small moon Helene shines like a regal ice queen in a dazzling new photo from NASA's Cassini spacecraft.
Cassini photographed the icy Helene on June 18 during a close flyby of the frigid world. At one point, Cassini zoomed to within 4,330 miles (6,968 kilometers) of Helene — the second-closest approach to the moon of the entire mission, researchers said.
Helene is an irregularly shaped world 22 miles (35 kilometers) wide. It orbits Saturn at an average distance of about 234,500 miles (377,000 km), roughly the same distance that separates Earth from our own moon. NASA officials called the moon Saturn's "ice queen" when releasing the new photo. [More Saturn moon and ring photos]
TOPICS: Astronomy; Astronomy Picture of the Day; Science
KEYWORDS: apod; astronomy; helene; saturn; science; space
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Because it's slow today, and I think this is cool.
1
posted on
07/02/2011 5:54:17 PM PDT
by
Windflier
To: Windflier
I saw the pic a while back but it is very cool.
There can’t be much gravity but there’s enough to pull those slides downhill.
2
posted on
07/02/2011 5:56:12 PM PDT
by
cripplecreek
(Remember the River Raisin! (look it up))
To: Windflier
Shouldn’t it have been named “Hillary”?
3
posted on
07/02/2011 5:59:28 PM PDT
by
mikrofon
(Cold & Distant)
To: Windflier
OMG!!! I CAN SEE MY HOUSE FROM HERE!!!
4
posted on
07/02/2011 6:02:19 PM PDT
by
End Times Sentinel
(In Memory of my Dear Friend Henry Lee II)
To: Windflier
That would be a totally cool view to imagine Helene coasting by in Saturn’s night sky, just like our own Moon.
Does our ‘moon’ have a name?
5
posted on
07/02/2011 6:03:17 PM PDT
by
Diana in Wisconsin
(I don't have 'Hobbies.' I'm developing a robust Post-Apocalyptic skill set...)
To: Diana in Wisconsin
I think our moon is Luna.
6
posted on
07/02/2011 6:04:53 PM PDT
by
cripplecreek
(Remember the River Raisin! (look it up))
To: Diana in Wisconsin
7
posted on
07/02/2011 6:06:13 PM PDT
by
dadgum
(Overjoyed to be a Pariah)
To: Diana in Wisconsin
Does our ‘moon’ have a name?Selene, Luna, I'm sure there are others.
/johnny
To: JRandomFreeper
9
posted on
07/02/2011 6:09:25 PM PDT
by
cripplecreek
(Remember the River Raisin! (look it up))
To: Windflier
Helene shimmers, Helen simmers:
Helen of Thomas: The face that launched a thousand quips.
10
posted on
07/02/2011 6:09:36 PM PDT
by
Charles Henrickson
(Helen of Thomas: The face that launched a thousand quips.)
To: Windflier
How could a moon this small have ICE on it?
11
posted on
07/02/2011 6:16:49 PM PDT
by
Ken522
To: Ken522
There’s probably a 7-11 there or something,,,
12
posted on
07/02/2011 6:21:45 PM PDT
by
DesertRhino
(I was standing with a rifle, waiting for soviet paratroopers, but communists just ran for office)
To: cripplecreek
There can’t be much gravity but there’s enough to pull those slides downhill. How big is that moon anyway? I posted the thread, but I really haven't seen much else about it.
13
posted on
07/02/2011 6:32:09 PM PDT
by
Windflier
(To anger a conservative, tell him a lie. To anger a liberal, tell him the truth.)
To: Ken522; KevinDavis
because its cold?
*shrug*
14
posted on
07/02/2011 6:32:38 PM PDT
by
GeronL
(The Right to Life came before the Right to Happiness)
To: Windflier
It says its 22 miles across
15
posted on
07/02/2011 6:33:43 PM PDT
by
GeronL
(The Right to Life came before the Right to Happiness)
To: cripplecreek
"Helene is an irregularly shaped world 22 miles (35 kilometers) wide." Excuse me while I utter a well deserved, Duh!
16
posted on
07/02/2011 6:34:16 PM PDT
by
Windflier
(To anger a conservative, tell him a lie. To anger a liberal, tell him the truth.)
To: mikrofon
Shouldn’t it have been named “Hillary”? I know. What's up with that? They blew the opportunity to finally give a celestial body the perfect name.
17
posted on
07/02/2011 6:36:13 PM PDT
by
Windflier
(To anger a conservative, tell him a lie. To anger a liberal, tell him the truth.)
To: Diana in Wisconsin
Does our ‘moon’ have a name? Yes, it's Luna.
Funny, I was just telling one of my kids that the other night. She's studying the Solar System, and I stumped her on that question.
18
posted on
07/02/2011 6:37:46 PM PDT
by
Windflier
(To anger a conservative, tell him a lie. To anger a liberal, tell him the truth.)
To: Ken522
How could a moon this small have ICE on it? It probably came that way from the factory.
19
posted on
07/02/2011 6:38:34 PM PDT
by
Moonman62
(The US has become a government with a country, rather than a country with a government.)
To: Ken522
How could a moon this small have ICE on it? Well, when you think about it, comets are supposedly composed of ice. Water ice is a natural compound that occurs all over the universe - not just here on earth.
20
posted on
07/02/2011 6:39:42 PM PDT
by
Windflier
(To anger a conservative, tell him a lie. To anger a liberal, tell him the truth.)
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