Currently Browsing: Saturn

Tethys Plays Hide and Seek with Cassini

Tethys Plays Hide and Seek with Cassini
Which planet does Tethys orbit again? I do admit, I’m terrible with names, but I never forget a face. In this case, the face I didn’t forget was a little moon orbiting Saturn (it’s the one that looks like the Death Star from Star Wars). However, after seeing this photo, I doubt I’ll...

Cassini Discovers a New Moonlet in Saturn’s Rings

Cassini Discovers a New Moonlet in Saturn’s Rings
The ~400 meter moonlet casts a 25 mile shadow across Saturn's B-ring (NASA) As Saturn approaches its August 11th equinox (during which the Sun will be directly above the gas giant’s equator at noon for 27 months), the Cassini Equinox Mission can do some moonlet spotting. During this time, sunlight...

Cassini Detects Salt: Enceladus Probably Has a Liquid Ocean

Cassini Detects Salt: Enceladus Probably Has a Liquid Ocean
In October 2008, Cassini flew very close to the surface of Saturn’s icy moon Enceladus. From a distance of only 50 km from the moon, the spacecraft was able to collect samples of a plume of ice. In an earlier “skeet shot”, Cassini captured detailed images of the cracked surface, revealing...