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Home / News / Tags / Cassini
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The Cassini spacecraft has just sent back the latest pictures that it made of Saturn's moon Enceladus, during the last planned flyby it made of the celestial body as part of its mission. For the next eight years, the moon will enter the “shadows” of winter, as the planet begins its long, cold season.... |
23 November 2009
04:31 GMT |
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In addition to supplying space agencies with invaluable data on the moons of Saturn and the gas giant itself, the Cassini spacecraft is also helping in our quest to learn more about our solar system. As we move through the local Milky Way galaxy, the space probe is taking non-stop measurements as to the nature of our... |
20 November 2009
06:17 GMT |
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This Saturday, November 21, the Cassini spacecraft will perform its last flyby of Saturn's moon Enceladus, before the planet enters its winter season. Once that happens, darkness will blanket the moon for several years, and its doubtful that the space probe, already in its mission-extension period, will last unt... |
20 November 2009
05:58 GMT |
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On September 22, 2009, around the time Saturn experienced its once-in-15-years equinox, the Cassini spacecraft imaged peculiar, cloud-like formations hovering above the gas giant's famous rings. The bright clouds contained luminous ice particles, a detailed analysis of the photographs revealed. During the equino... |
14 November 2009
06:35 GMT |
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Saturn, the second-largest planet in the solar system, features a large number of rings, some of which usually experience a brief “night,” lasting from six to 14 hours. At times, however, the entire ring system is engulfed by shadows, when the planet reaches its equinox. This happens once every 15 Earth y... |
24 October 2009
06:53 GMT |
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Recent images of some of Saturn's moons have revealed strange patches of color on the surface of the five innermost natural satellites, Mimas, Enceladus, Tethys, Dione, and Rhea. Some of the unusual patterns have been seen before during previous flights, but others are totally new, the investigators for the miss... |
20 October 2009
16:31 GMT |
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Since the Cassini spacecraft sent back images showing the freezing moon Enceladus, around Saturn, spewing out vapors of water, the international astronomical community has entered a frenzy, and also a heated scientific debate. Some scientists argue that the observations prove there is an ocean of liquid water under t... |
13 October 2009
09:44 GMT |
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The American space agency NASA usually makes use of solar panels for its exploration missions in the solar system, such as for instance on Mars, the Moon, Saturn, Mercury, Vesta, Ceres, and so on. But these explorations take place in the relative vicinity of the Sun, so the amount of electricity produced by the solar... |
1 October 2009
06:04 GMT |
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Saturn has been around the solar system for a while. But, of all the equinoxes it had since its formation, it was only this one that was observed directly with a probe right on the spot, the Cassini spacecraft. It revealed new and stunning images, which show new, previously unidentified quirks in the gas giant's... |
22 September 2009
02:40 GMT |
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The large gas giant Saturn now holds yet another record, this time for the longest storm ever recorded in the solar system. It began to form in the planet's atmosphere in January, which means that it has been ongoing for the past eight months. A similar formation was observed on Saturn between November 2007 and ... |
15 September 2009
03:58 GMT |
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Astronomers and physicists analyzing the data relayed back by the Magnetospheric Imaging instrument (MIMI) aboard the Cassini spacecraft have recently discovered a new, transient radiation belt around Saturn. Located some 337,000 kilometers away from the planet's core, the belt is located roughly around the moon... |
14 September 2009
19:01 GMT |
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Ever since the 17th century, when Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei discovered that Saturn had rings around it, astronomers and astrophysicists have been trying to come up with a plausible explanation for how they were formed and why. To this day, the answer has eluded them, and each new scientific find about the pl... |
24 August 2009
16:51 GMT |
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The Cassini-Huygens mission is, at this point, one of the most abundant sources of information about celestial bodies in the solar system, alongside the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO), and the rovers Spirit and Opportunity. A decade ago, the space probe was last seen orbiting the Earth, as it made a fly-by to boos... |
19 August 2009
05:33 GMT |
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Tomorrow, August 11, the planet Saturn will perform one of the most amazing “magic” tricks ever seen in the solar system, as it will make its enormous rings, comprised of trillions of trillions of ice and dust, simply vanish and not show on any telescopes. All it needs to do this is the correct sunlight, ... |
10 August 2009
05:44 GMT |
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According to mission controllers for the Cassini spacecraft, a new object has been found lurking in one of Saturn's rings. The elusive body has thus far not been discovered because of the angles at which the probe moved around the planet, and also because the conditions were right for these types of observations... |
10 August 2009
03:48 GMT |
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According to recent reports, it may be that the thing keeping the liquid water and vapors on the icy Saturn moon Enceladus from freezing is nothing else than a natural form of antifreeze. The most important chemical in such a cocktail is ammonia, which has the ability to significantly alter the temperature points at ... |
23 July 2009
03:06 GMT |
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Saturn's moon Titan is perhaps the best bet in the solar system of finding life, researchers have hypothesized since evidence of liquids was found on its surface. With its thick atmosphere, albeit made of gases that would kill humans almost instantly, the natural satellite is 80 times more massive than the Moon,... |
26 June 2009
03:46 GMT |
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The Cassini-Huygens space probe is arguably one of the most important missions NASA ever sent out into the solar system, in terms of return benefits and information accuracy. The craft has thus far managed to discover new moons around Saturn, and to offer invaluable scientific data on interesting natural satellites s... |
25 June 2009
03:39 GMT |
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Every now and then, the moons of Saturn align themselves in such a manner that they either throw their shadows on the surface of the planet, making them look like they're chasing each other, or they cast them on the giant planet's rings, creating vertical structures that are beautiful to look at. One such i... |
15 June 2009
20:01 GMT |
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J. J. Abrams, the director of the new Star Trek movie that just recently came out, apparently wanted to get all of his scientific facts right before he depicted his take on the Universe. Indeed, in one of the most epic sequences of the entire movie, the USS Enterprise, the famous ship around which the entire Star Tre... |
16 May 2009
03:10 GMT |
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Due to a slow, but steady decrease in Cassini's main thrusters, the spacecraft's managing team at NASA has decided to switch propulsion control over to the backup set, in the aftermath of the mission's extension. In 2008, the American space agency received funds to continue exploring Saturn and its moo... |
13 March 2009
09:51 GMT |
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Nearly four years of research data have been used by Cassini mission scientists to create one of the most complex and comprehensive maps of Saturn's largest moon, Titan, as far as winds go. The huge dunes on the surface of the planet have been believed for a long time to be the main factor responsible for th... |
28 February 2009
04:02 GMT |
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The space probe Cassini is currently starting to show its age, NASA officials have announced, saying that the machine is beginning to exhibit signs of weakness when it comes to its thrusters, which are the very thing that keeps it afloat over its targets. Since October 2008, one of the eight thrusters that currently ... |
3 February 2009
14:21 GMT |
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A paper published in the January 29th issue of the journal Geophysical Research Letters confirms what astronomers have been suspecting for the past couple of years, and namely that the atmosphere around Saturn's moon, Titan, which is approximately 10 times denser than that of the Earth, is capable of producing c... |
2 February 2009
10:32 GMT |
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In one of its most recent transmissions, the Cassini space probe relayed back information confirming the existence of liquid hydrocarbon lakes on the surface of Saturn's moon, Titan. The probe was only able to identify the existence of the lakes by analyzing the changes in landscapes over periods of time, which ... |
30 January 2009
08:49 GMT |
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Mounting evidence gathered by the Cassini space probe over the last few months seems to indicate the fact that there is certainly water underneath Enceladus' icy surfaces, NASA experts say. The geysers that erupt on the moon's surface daily throw water vapors and some organic-laced ice in the air, as demons... |
19 December 2008
05:27 GMT |
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The images sent by NASA's Cassini spacecraft indicate there's a high possibility that Saturn's largest moon, Titan, is subject to a dynamic volcanic activity. Instead of regular volcanoes on which we know a lot, these particular ones don't eject lava, but icy water, ammonia and methane, substances... |
17 December 2008
05:53 GMT |
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The Cassini probe, which has been orbiting Saturn for more than four years now, has repeatedly provided series of images of one of its more interesting moons, Enceladus, which has been appointed as its new main target during the extended Equinox Mission. While looking at the geysers depicted in the photos and analyzi... |
27 November 2008
15:11 GMT |
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Although it's been orbiting Titan, Saturn's biggest moon, for four years now, the Cassini probe hasn't been able to map more than 25% of its surface, because of the atmospheric limitations, as dense fog obscures it from view. Still, together with the Huygens probe, which was sent to roam on the moon, i... |
7 November 2008
06:47 GMT |
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Cassini, the spacecraft that is the result of the collaboration between NASA and the Italian Space Agency, has recently discovered a giant cyclone on Saturn's northern pole, and has provided pictures of the known, similar phenomenon from the south pole in much greater detail than those previously obtained. ... |
15 October 2008
04:20 GMT |
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Enceladus, the geyser moon of Saturn, will be passed by twice this October, first on the 9th and a second time on the 31st, in an attempt to prove the hypothetical existence of an ocean hiding on its surface. The first flyby will see Cassini performing the closest such maneuver from the surface of any of Saturn&... |
8 October 2008
05:24 GMT |
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Observations carried out with the Cassini spacecraft have once again confirmed the theory that Saturn's moon Titan has lakes on its surface, after picturing Ontario Lacus located in the south pole of the body, an accumulation of liquid methane and ethane with a size larger than that of the Lake Ontario in the No... |
31 July 2008
05:26 GMT |
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Exactly four years ago the Cassini-Huygens mission reached the Saturnian system and entered orbit around the ringed planet, in order to make a series of observations that would astonish the world. It is probably one of the most successful robotic missions to one of the gas giants conducted by NASA and the ESA and was... |
2 July 2008
03:11 GMT |
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A team of researchers from the UK states that Saturn's F ring is the most dynamic of all other rings, since it can change its features either in only a few hours or in a couple of years, probably due to large scale collisions taking place inside it. If this is truly the case, then the further study of the proces... |
6 June 2008
02:35 GMT |
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NASA announced, in a recent statement, that the Cassini mission was extended by at least two years, in order to conduct more detailed studies of Saturn's exotic moons. The Cassini spacecraft along with the Huygens probe was launched into space in October 1997 and arrived at the Saturnian system in June 2004. Its... |
16 April 2008
04:19 GMT |
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Don't worry. The famous probe is not out of control, however NASA will turn over control of the spacecraft to students during June 10, in a contest with the role of raising the interest of the youth in science. The contest will be attended by students from the 5th to 12th grades, that will write essays to NASA i... |
5 April 2008
04:22 GMT |
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The results of the fly-by made by the Cassini orbiter around Saturn's moon Enceladus reveal that the plume of water vapor above its surface is rich in primitive organic molecules necessary for the appearance and evolution of life as we know it. On 12 March the probe was sent in a fly-by at an altitude of 50 kilo... |
27 March 2008
04:01 GMT |
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In the outcome of previous observations showing that Saturn's moon Enceladus ejects matter out of the geysers on its surface, the Cassini spacecraft executed, on Wednesday, a fly-by through the water ice plume hovering above it. During the swing, Cassini took numerous pictures of the surface of the moon and made... |
14 March 2008
05:42 GMT |
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The Cassini spacecraft is scheduled tomorrow for a unique fly-by around Saturn's moon Enceladus, to probe in detail the nature of the water plume originating from geysers on the surface in regions around the south pole of the moon. During the fly-by, Cassini will reach an altitude of only 50 kilometers above the... |
11 March 2008
05:35 GMT |
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If SciFi movies haven't given a boost to science and technology, then I don't know what could have. Remember the Alcubierre warp drive? Yep, you guessed it, Star Trek warp drives were already working by the time Alcubierre calculated the physical theory on how to make such a devices work in 1994; not only t... |
12 February 2008
09:31 GMT |
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Google Maps has been added a very interesting layer, powered by GeoGarage, representing an 18th century map of France, created by Cassini. It took the cartographer over thirty years to complete his work, the drawing of the 182 sheets of the map.The layer is fully functional and you can zoom in and out as you please, ... |
1 February 2008
17:41 GMT |
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Data collected by the Cassini spacecraft shows the presence of heavy negative ions in the upper regions of the second largest moon in the solar system, Saturn's Titan. Launched in 1997, the Cassini spacecraft reached Saturn in 2004; it had several missions, amongst which the study of the surface of Titan, and of... |
29 November 2007
05:49 GMT |
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The spacecraft Cassini has just sent in clear photos of a sea on Saturn's moon, Titan, captured during the latest flyby. Also visible in the images are various features characteristic of a coastline, like channels, islands and bays.Cassini-Huygens is a space mission consisting of two main elements: the NASA Cas... |
25 May 2007
03:02 GMT |
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