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Keyword: saturn

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  • Enigmatic plumes from Saturn’s moon caused by cosmic collision

    03/27/2017 7:43:02 PM PDT · by MtnClimber · 14 replies
    New Scientist ^ | 24 Mar, 2017 | Leah Crane
    Enceladus’ south pole is wounded, bleeding heat and water. Its injury may have come from a huge rock smashing into this frigid moon of Saturn less than 100 million years ago, leaving the area riddled with leaky cracks. The region near Enceladus’ south pole marks one of the solar system’s most intriguing mysteries. It spews plumes of liquid from an interior ocean, plus an enormous amount of heat. The south pole’s heat emission is about 10 gigawatts higher than expected – equivalent to the power of 4000 wind turbines running at full capacity. The rest of the moon, though, is...
  • It's a ravioli! It's a UFO! It's ... a moon

    03/10/2017 7:52:46 AM PST · by BenLurkin · 15 replies
    NASA on Thursday released pictures of Pan, one of Saturn's many moons, and its distinctive shape is drawing comparisons to flying saucers and stuffed pasta. The images of the moon come courtesy of NASA's Cassini spacecraft, and reveal the UFO-like form of the tiny satellite, which has an average radius of just 8.8 miles. Cassini's Twitter account tweeted a gif showing the raw images. ... According to NASA's website, Pan's strange shape comes from what is called an equatorial ridge, a characteristic it shares with one of its sister moons, Atlas. The ridge has formed over the course of Pan's...
  • Here's Our Best Look Yet at Saturn's 'UFO' Moon (Moon's name: Pan)

    03/10/2017 1:05:37 AM PST · by LibWhacker · 12 replies
    National Geographic ^ | 3/9/17 | Nadia Drake
    Here's Our Best Look Yet at Saturn's 'UFO' Moon Adorned with a thin band of icy ring particles, the small moon Pan inspires comparisons to alien spacecraft, walnuts, and even ravioli. View Images One of Cassini's new views of Saturn's moon Pan. Photograph by NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute By Nadia Drake PUBLISHED March 9, 2017 There’s a tiny “flying saucer” orbiting deep within Saturn’s rings, and a NASA probe has just gotten its most impressive look yet at the strange object. The saucer is actually a little moon called Pan, and NASA’s Cassini spacecraft captured its distinctive shape on March 7...
  • Cassini snaps a tiny moon shaping Saturn's ring

    01/19/2017 11:42:35 AM PST · by BenLurkin · 6 replies
    CNET ^ | 01/18/2017 | Michelle Starr
    This new picture from NASA's Cassini probe shows off the peculiarity of Daphnis, a moon so tiny it wasn't discovered until 2005. It's just 8 kilometres (5 miles) across, and irregularly shaped, which gives it a wobbly orbit. ... The Keeler gap is just 42 kilometres (26 miles) wide, and Daphnis' distance varies from Saturn by about 9 kilometres (5.6 miles), while it moves up and down by about 17 kilometres (10.5 miles). This eccentricity, and Daphnis' gravity, causes peaked waves to form on the edges of the gap, in both vertical and horizontal directions. In this new image, taken...
  • Nasa finally shares stunning footage of its 2005 landing on Saturn's moon, Titan [tr]

    01/17/2017 12:05:38 PM PST · by C19fan · 20 replies
    UK Daily Mail ^ | January 17, 2017 | Abigail Beall
    New footage released by Nasa shows exactly what it looks like to land on an alien world. It may seem like stuff of science fiction, but the scenes in the new video happened in real life, 12 years ago. The stunning video was captured when the space agency’s Huygens probe descended onto the mysterious world of Titan, Saturn’s biggest moon.
  • Planetary Rings Defy Long Ages

    11/02/2016 11:05:40 AM PDT · by fishtank · 13 replies
    Models of the origin of planetary rings are simulations based on fictions. Real physics cannot keep them billions of years old. Theory vs Realism Researchers at Kobe University claim to have an explanation for planetary rings, Science Daily reports. Their supercomputer model accounts for the difference in composition of Saturn’s icy rings, compared to the rocky rings at Uranus and Neptune. The model, however, published in Icarus, relies on two doubtful assumptions. One is the Late Heavy Bombardment (LHB), which we reported on 9/13/16 is coming under fire. It could be a fiction based on poor data analysis of lunar...
  • Centaurs Keep Their Rings From Greedy Gas Giants

    06/26/2016 10:36:02 AM PDT · by BenLurkin · 14 replies
    universetoday.com ^ | 06/24/2016 | Matt Williams
    Centaurs are a population of objects within our Solar System that behave as both comets and asteroids (hence why they are named after the hybrid beasts of Greek mythology). 10199 Chariklo is the largest known member of the Centaur population, a possible former Trans-Neptunian Object (TNO) which currently orbits between Saturn and Uranus. The rings around this asteroid were first noticed in 2013 when the asteroid underwent a stellar occultation. This revealed a system of two rings, with a radius of 391 and 405 km and widths of about 7 km 3 km, respectively. The absorption features of the rings...
  • Astronomy Picture of the Day -- Cirrus over Paris

    06/22/2016 4:45:04 AM PDT · by SunkenCiv · 4 replies
    NASA ^ | Wednesday, June 22, 2016 | (see photo credit)
    Explanation: What's that over Paris? Cirrus. Typically, cirrus clouds appear white or gray when reflecting sunlight, can appear dark at sunset (or sunrise) against a better lit sky. Cirrus are among the highest types of clouds and are usually thin enough to see stars through. Cirrus clouds may form from moisture released above storm clouds and so may herald the arrival of a significant change in weather. Conversely, cirrus clouds have also been seen on Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Titan, Uranus, and Neptune. The featured image was taken two days ago from a window in District 15, Paris, France, Earth. The...
  • Astronomy Picture of the Day -- Galaxy and Planets Beyond Bristlecone Pines

    06/19/2016 6:48:50 AM PDT · by SunkenCiv · 9 replies
    NASA ^ | Sunday, June 19, 2016 | (see photo credit)
    Explanation: What's older than these ancient trees? Nobody you know -- but almost everything in the background of this picture. The trees are impressively old -- each part of the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest located in eastern California, USA. There, many of the oldest trees known are located, some dating as far back as about 5,000 years. Seemingly attached to tree branches, but actually much farther in the distance, are the bright orbs of Saturn (left) and Mars. These planets formed along with the Earth and the early Solar System much earlier -- about 4.5 billion years ago. Swooping down...
  • Astronomy Picture of the Day -- Three Planets from Pic du Midi

    06/02/2016 4:03:22 AM PDT · by SunkenCiv · 9 replies
    NASA ^ | Thursday, June 02, 2016 | (see photo credit)
    Explanation: Seen any planets lately? All three planets now shining brightly in the night sky are imaged in these panels, captured last week with the 1 meter telescope at Pic du Midi Observatory in the French Pyrenees. Near opposition and closest to Earth on May 30, Mars is presently offering the best ground-based photo-ops in the last decade. The sharp image finds clouds above the Red Planet's north pole (top) and towering volcanos near its right limb. Saturn reaches its own opposition tonight, its bright rings and gaps clearly revealed in the telescopic portrait. Jupiter is currently highest during the...
  • Astronomy Picture of the Day -- Milky Way and Planets Near Opposition

    05/21/2016 12:47:18 PM PDT · by SunkenCiv · 6 replies
    NASA ^ | Saturday, May 21, 2016 | (see photo credit)
    Explanation: In this early May night skyscape, a mountain road near Bursa, Turkey seems to lead toward bright planets Mars and Saturn and the center of our Milky Way Galaxy, a direction nearly opposite the Sun in planet Earth's sky. The brightest celestial beacon on the scene, Mars, reaches its opposition tonight and Saturn in early June. Both will remain nearly opposite the Sun, up all night and close to Earth for the coming weeks, so the time is right for good telescopic viewing. Mars and Saturn form the tight celestial triangle with red giant star Antares just right of...
  • Astronomy Picture of the Day -- Saturn and Mars visit Milky Way Star Clouds

    05/10/2016 4:57:55 AM PDT · by SunkenCiv · 4 replies
    NASA ^ | Tuesday, May 10, 2016 | (see photo credit)
    Explanation: Planets, stars, nebulas and a galaxy -- this impressive image has them all. Closest to home are the two planets Mars (right) and Saturn (center), visible as the two bright orange spots in the upper half of the featured image. On the central right are the colorful Rho Ophiuchus star clouds featuring the bright orange star Antares lined up below Mars. These interstellar clouds contain both red emission nebulas and blue reflection nebulas. At the top right of the image is the Blue Horsehead reflection nebula. On the lower left are many dark absorption nebulas that extend from the...
  • All Good Things: Countdown Begins Toward Cassini's 'Grand Finale' Around Saturn

    04/30/2016 8:42:56 PM PDT · by LibWhacker · 9 replies
    AmericaSpace ^ | 4/29/16 | Leonidas Papadopoulos
    All Good Things: Countdown Begins Toward Cassini's 'Grand Finale' Around Saturn By Leonidas Papadopoulos Artist's concept of Cassini's final orbits between the Saturn's innermost rings and the planet's cloud tops. This set of orbits will consist the last leg of Cassini's mission, called "The Grand Finale," which will culminate with a plunge on Saturn's atmosphere in September 2017. Image Credit: Image Credit: NASA/JPL It has become something of a hackneyed phrase, but in the case of NASA's Cassini spacecraft it is rather fitting: an epic mission of exploration of Saturn that has single-handedly changed our view of the ringed planet,...
  • NASA reports Cassini spacecraft orbit unaffected by theorized undiscovered Planet 9

    04/10/2016 8:30:14 PM PDT · by BenLurkin · 9 replies
    clarksvilleonline.com ^ | 04/10/2016 | Preston Dyches
    Contrary to recent reports, NASA’s Cassini spacecraft is not experiencing unexplained deviations in its orbit around Saturn, according to mission managers and orbit determination experts at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. Several recent news stories have reported that a mysterious anomaly in Cassini’s orbit could potentially be explained by the gravitational tug of a theorized massive new planet in our solar system, lurking far beyond the orbit of Neptune.
  • Astronomy Picture of the Day -- Cassini Approaches Saturn

    04/10/2016 12:31:18 PM PDT · by SunkenCiv · 11 replies
    NASA ^ | Sunday, April 10, 2016 | (see photo credit)
    Explanation: Cassini, a robot spacecraft launched in 1997 by NASA, became close enough in 2002 to resolve many rings and moons of its destination planet: Saturn. At that time, Cassini snapped several images during an engineering test. Several of those images were combined into the contrast-enhanced color composite featured here. Saturn's rings and cloud-tops are visible toward the image bottom, while Titan, its largest moon, is visible as the speck toward the top. When arriving at Saturn in July 2004, the Cassini orbiter began to circle and study the Saturnian system. A highlight was when Cassini launched the Huygens probe...
  • Moons of Saturn May Be Younger Than the Dinosaurs

    03/30/2016 3:39:17 PM PDT · by SunkenCiv · 37 replies
    Scientific Computing ^ | March 28, 2016 | SETI Institute
    New research suggests that some of Saturn's icy moons, as well as its famous rings, might be modern adornments. Their dramatic birth may have taken place a mere hundred million years ago, more recent than the reign of many dinosaurs... While Saturn's rings have been known since the 1600s, there's still debate about their age. The straightforward assumption is that they are primordial -- as old as the planet itself, which is more than four billion years. However, in 2012, French astronomers found that tidal effects -- the gravitational interaction of the inner moons with fluids deep in Saturn's interior...
  • Tallest Peak on Saturn's Huge Moon Titan Identified (Photo)

    03/25/2016 7:40:44 AM PDT · by BenLurkin · 8 replies
    Images and radar data taken by Cassini peg a 10,948-foot-tall (3,337 m) mountain in an equatorial range called Mithrim Montes as Titan's likely loftiest peak, mission scientists announced today (March 24) at the 47th annual Lunar and Planetary Science Conference in The Woodlands, Texas. "It's not only the highest point we've found so far on Titan, but we think it's the highest point we're likely to find," Stephen Wall, deputy lead of the Cassini radar team at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, said in a statement. Just what could be powering Titan's mountain-building activity remains a mystery, scientists...
  • Astronomy Picture of the Day -- Neon Saturn

    03/13/2016 7:34:40 AM PDT · by SunkenCiv · 19 replies
    NASA ^ | Sunday, March 13, 2016 | (see photo credit)
    Explanation: If seen in the right light, Saturn glows like a neon sign. Although Saturn has comparatively little of the element neon, a composite image false-colored in three bands of infrared light highlights features of the giant ringed planet like a glowing sign. At the most blue band of the infrared light featured, false-colored blue in the above image, Saturn itself appears dark but Saturn's thin rings brightly reflect light from our Sun. Conversely, Saturn's B ring is so thick that little reflected light makes it through, creating a dark band between Saturn's A and C rings. At the most...
  • Astronomy Picture of the Day -- Mystery Feature Now Disappears in Titan Lake

    03/07/2016 7:34:35 AM PST · by SunkenCiv · 15 replies
    NASA ^ | Monday, March 07, 2016 | (see photo credit)
    Explanation: What is that changing object in a cold hydrocarbon sea of Titan? Radar images from the robotic Cassini spacecraft orbiting Saturn have been recording the surface of the cloud-engulfed moon Titan for years. When imaging the flat -- and hence radar dark -- surface of the methane and ethane lake called Ligeia Mare, an object appeared in 2013 July just was not there in 2007. Subsequent observations in 2014 August found the object remained -- but had changed. In an image released last week, the mystery object seems to have disappeared in 2015 January. The featured false-color image shows...
  • Astronomy Picture of the Day -- Moons and Jupiter

    03/04/2016 12:25:38 PM PST · by SunkenCiv · 4 replies
    NASA ^ | March 03, 2016 | (see photo credit)
    Explanation: Some of the Solar System's largest moons rose together on February 23. On that night, a twilight pairing of a waning gibbous Moon and Jupiter was captured in this sharp telescopic field of view. The composite of short and long exposures reveals the familiar face of our fair planet's own large natural satellite, along with a line up of the ruling gas giant's four Galilean moons. Left to right, the tiny pinpricks of light are Callisto, Io, Ganymede, [Jupiter], and Europa. Closer and brighter, our own natural satellite appears to loom large. But Callisto, Io, and Ganymede are actually...