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"Everything should be as simple as it is, but not simpler", Albert Einstein
Browsing All posts tagged under »Cassini«
Saturn is Like an Antiques Shop, Cassini Suggests
A new analysis of data from NASA’s Cassini spacecraft suggests that Saturn’s moons and rings are gently worn vintage goods from around the time of our solar system’s birth. Though they are tinted on the surface from recent “pollution,” these bodies date back more than 4 billion years. They are from around the time that […]
Cassini Suggests Icing on a Lake
January 9, 2013
The icebergs of Titan: Astronomers say hydrocarbon blocks could contain ‘exotic form of life’ Researchers believe the lakes and seas could contain life due to their unique chemistry Believe ice could be colourless, but appear reddish-brown due to Titan’s atmosphere Saturn’s moon Titan is home to lakes of massive hydrocarbon ‘icebergs’ that could form exotic […]
Cassini captures spectacle in Saturn’s shadow
December 19, 2012
Just in time for the holidays, NASA’s Cassini spacecraft, in orbit around Saturn for more than eight years now, has delivered another glorious, backlit view of the planet Saturn and its rings. On Oct. 17, 2012, during its 174th orbit around the gas giant, Cassini was deliberately positioned within Saturn’s shadow, a perfect location from […]
Cassini Finds a Video Gamers’ Paradise at Saturn
November 26, 2012
You could call this “Pac-Man, the Sequel.” Scientists with NASA’s Cassini mission have spotted a second feature shaped like the 1980s video game icon in the Saturn system, this time on the moon Tethys. (The first was found on Mimas in 2010). The pattern appears in thermal data obtained by Cassini’s composite infrared spectrometer, with […]
Cassini Shows Why Jet Streams Cross-Cut Saturn
June 25, 2012
Turbulent jet streams, regions where winds blow faster than in other places, churn east and west across Saturn. Scientists have been trying to understand for years the mechanism that drives these wavy structures in Saturn’s atmosphere and the source from which the jets derive their energy. In a new study appearing in the June edition […]
Cassini Captures New Images of Icy Moon
March 12, 2012
These raw, unprocessed images of Saturn’s second largest moon, Rhea, were taken on March 10, 2012, by NASA’s Cassini spacecraft. This was a relatively distant flyby with a close-approach distance of 26,000 miles (42,000 kilometers), well suited for global geologic mapping. During the flyby, Cassini captured these distinctive views of the moon’s cratered surface, creating […]
Rhea Before Titan
February 16, 2012
Craters appear well defined on icy Rhea in front of the hazy orb of the much larger moon Titan in this Cassini spacecraft view of these two Saturn moons. Lit terrain seen here is on the leading hemispheres of Rhea and Titan. North on the moons is up and rotated 13 degrees to the left. […]
Saturn and Its Moon Dione
February 2, 2012
Dione on a Diagonal Saturn and Dione appear askew in this Cassini spacecraft view, with the north poles rotated to the right, as if they were threaded along on the thin diagonal line of the planet’s rings. This view looks toward the anti-Saturn side of Dione (698 miles, or 1,123 kilometers across). North on Dione […]
Enceladus weather: Snow flurries and perfect powder for skiing
October 3, 2011
Global signature of frost deposition on Enceladus revealed in colour mapping. The top map shows a colorized map of the predicted pattern of fallout from Enceladus’s icy plumes (bus represent thicker accumulations), with the global colour patterns observed by Cassini imaging camera. The bottom map is the global 3-color map of Enceladus showing areas that […]
Cassini Spacecraft Captures Images And Sounds Of Big Saturn Storm
July 6, 2011
Scientists analyzing data from NASA’s Cassini spacecraft now have the first-ever, up-close details of a Saturn storm that is eight times the surface area of Earth. On Dec. 5, 2010, Cassini first detected the storm that has been raging ever since. It appears at approximately 35 degrees north latitude on Saturn. Pictures from Cassini’s imaging […]
Cassini Captures Ocean-Like Spray at Saturn Moon
June 23, 2011
PASADENA, Calif. – NASA’s Cassini spacecraft has discovered the best evidence yet for a large-scale saltwater reservoir beneath the icy crust of Saturn’s moon Enceladus. The data came from the spacecraft’s direct analysis of salt-rich ice grains close to the jets ejected from the moon. Data from Cassini’s cosmic dust analyzer show the grains expelled […]
Video: Cassini – Helene
June 22, 2011
Animation made using the raw images from Cassini’s flyby of Saturn’s moon, Helene on 18/6/2011
March 27, 2013
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