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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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Based on data relayed back by the Huygens probe, part of the Cassini-Huygens mission carried out by NASA in collaboration with the European Space Agency, researchers from the University of Granada and the University of Valencia have proven for the first time that the dense atmosphere around Saturn's largest moon... |
30 July 2008
08:13 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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The discovery comes in the outcome of 22 years of continuous observations of the temperature variations of the second biggest planet in the solar system, Saturn, which has been the subject of the longest temperature study ever conducted on an extraterrestrial body. Similar atmospheric temperature oscillations have be... |
8 May 2008
03:31 GMT |
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Although they are not as visible as Saturn's beautiful rings of particles, Jupiter's rings were in fact discovered in 1979 during the first Voyager mission. Until 1995, when the Galileo spacecraft entered orbit around Jupiter, scientists had in fact no image of the thin, mysterious features around our solar... |
5 May 2008
08:29 GMT |
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When it comes to gas giants, nothing is small. This also applies in the case of the electrical storm dominating the southern areas of Saturn for the last five months or so, the longest storm recorded to date and capable of producing lightning discharges some 10,000 times more powerful than those observed on Earth. "W... |
30 April 2008
03:31 GMT |
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While looking for evidence of life on other bodies in the solar system, researchers often evaluate the degree of habitability relying on the presence of water, sunlight, oxygen and so on. However, in the last decades, we came to learn that none of these three basic ingredients is absolutely required in order to susta... |
21 April 2008
04:54 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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During the span of the Royal Astronomical Society's National Astronomy Meeting that took place last week in Belfast, astronomers revealed the latest results of their studies. One of the scientists present there, Martin Dominik from the St Andrews University, pointed out that he and his team discovered a distant ... |
7 April 2008
02:55 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 night sky will entertain us this month with a splendid combination of stars, complemented by the Moon and Saturn. Starting with 8 April, star gazers will be able to view the Pleiades star cluster rising above the western skies after the sunset, as the Moon passes through the first quarter, the full moon phase and... |
1 April 2008
06:04 GMT |
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Back here on Earth, we may experience some dangerous storms from time to time; however, they are nothing compared to the storms taking place on gas giants such as Saturn or Jupiter. These storms apparently never stop and are so big that the whole Earth would fit inside of them. Saturn's storm, for example, has a... |
28 March 2008
04:10 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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The moon Titan is the largest of all about 60 natural satellites orbiting around Saturn. In fact, it is larger than the smallest planet in the solar system, Mercury. Also, Titan is the only moon in the solar system known to have a thick atmosphere around it, filled with organic molecules, precursors to the appearance... |
21 March 2008
04:00 GMT |
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Saturn is the second largest planet in the solar system and probably the most beautiful of all, aside Earth maybe. Its beautiful rings are simply breathtaking, thus even some of the most experienced astronomers cannot help themselves from taking a peek through the telescope from time to time to see its rings. However... |
19 March 2008
09:38 GMT |
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What is now a massive ball of ice around Saturn, the moon Tethys had an ocean at some point in its past, say researchers at the University of California present at a major science conference in Houston. Tethys is only one of the 60 or so natural satellites orbiting around Saturn, has a medium size and an average dens... |
15 March 2008
08:12 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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The Saturn system is well known for its unique configuration. Being the second largest planet in the solar system, Saturn distinguishes itself from the other gas giants through a large ring of debris orbiting around it and the large number of moons - over 60 moons. Now Cassini promises to add yet another unique featu... |
7 March 2008
02:45 GMT |
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The newly discovered solar system lies 5,000 light years away from Earth and seems to contain two gas giants slightly smaller that the two biggest planets in our solar system, Jupiter and Saturn, evidence that solar systems similar to our own might be more abundant in the Milky Way than previously thought. One of the... |
28 February 2008
04:07 GMT |
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Although it is not the biggest planet in the solar system, it is certainly one of the most spectacular: truly a miniature solar system, with more than 63 moons orbiting around it and a beautiful ring of debris hovering above its equator. A unique feature, even though Uranus also has a dim ring around it. As of 24 of ... |
27 February 2008
04:28 GMT |
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New observations with the Cassini orbiter show that Saturn's moon Titan contains large quantities of hydrocarbon liquid, about a few hundred times more than the natural reserves found here on Earth. Hydrocarbon gas condenses into Titan's dense atmosphere, then it is raining down on its surface much in the s... |
14 February 2008
02:48 GMT |
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Pray for good weather on February 20 and you might just observe the third total lunar eclipse of the year. The phenomenon will be seen without experiencing any difficulties in the North and South American continents, as the Moon will occupy an excellent position in the sky relative to those areas. If you don't l... |
7 February 2008
10:18 GMT |
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It is a well known fact that Saturn's ring E is interacting with the moon Enceladus, and might have been created by drawing material ejected through cryo-volcanism phenomenons taking place of the surface of the moon. However, new observations conducted by NASA's Cassini orbiter reveal that icy plumes of mat... |
7 February 2008
03:47 GMT |
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Images of one of Saturn's moon, brought back by NASA's Cassini orbiter, have recently spawn some of the most fierce debates regarding the solar system exploration program. German astrophysicists argue that there is conclusive evidence that Enceladus, a small moon measuring only 504 kilometers in diameter, m... |
7 February 2008
02:50 GMT |
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More than half of a century has passed since the first U.S. artificial satellite was lifted into space, inaugurating a long series of space launches. However, while most of the technology used to build the launch vehicles progressed at an extremely high rate, the design of the trusty rocket engine remained mostly unc... |
31 January 2008
11:05 GMT |
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Just before 2006, Pluto was still considered the most remote planet in the solar system. However, due to the discovery of a series of objects that had similar sizes and characteristics to that of Pluto, the object has been demoted from its status of planet to that of Kuiper belt object, or minor planet. Currently, th... |
15 January 2008
09:54 GMT |
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A surprising new finding of the Cassini-Huygens probe reveals that Saturn presents spinning hot spots at each pole, that can resist even to the toughest polar winters, but whatever causes them seems to surpass scientific explanations so far. Saturn's hotspots, located in its gaseous atmosphere hovering over th... |
4 January 2008
02:58 GMT |
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Those of you who got bored of climbing all the mountains on Earth might consider an exotic experience on Saturn's largest moon, Titan. I heard they've got some mighty good-looking mountains there. Well, the Cassini-Huygens probe has once again exceeded the expectations and done what no other space probe stu... |
20 December 2007
05:00 GMT |
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It seems that the spacecraft Cassini-Huygens has been rather busy lately, as scientists are now flooding us with new information regarding planet Saturn. The spacecraft, designed in a collaboration between the European Space Agency and NASA, is currently being operated by the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and has r... |
13 December 2007
08:44 GMT |
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The most elusive constant related to the planet that has not been yet accurately determined is its spin rotation, as the gas giant is covered with a thick layer of clouds, which prevents most of the instruments aboard the Cassini probe to make detailed observations. Thus, most of the methods used to measure the spin ... |
13 December 2007
06:13 GMT |
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Saturn's rings are one of its most distinct features, and although other planets in the solar system present rings of particles, they are not so obvious. They where first predicted to exist in the middle of the 17th century by Christian Huygens and viewed for the first time by Galileo Galilei with his telescope.... |
13 December 2007
03:36 GMT |
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Well, there is evidence of water on Enceladus' surface but the real question is still whether there are any life forms present there or not. While doing a survey of Saturn's tiny moon, the Cassini-Huygens probe detected a hot spot on the old moon's surface, which usually has a temperature lower than th... |
11 December 2007
03:04 GMT |
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Such strange flying-saucer-shaped objects mostly common in Saturn's rings have puzzled scientists. It appears that they form from gathering particles of ice and dust from the rings, much in the same way planets form by buiding up matter from accretion disks spinning around stars, and could provide us with valuab... |
7 December 2007
02:54 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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Scientists trying to measure Saturn's precise rotation rate have been experiencing difficulties in timing the radio pulses that the planet emits. Determining the precise rotation rate for planets with no solid surface like the gas giants has proven extremely difficult. The method they have been using consists of... |
8 November 2007
03:24 GMT |
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Saturn is the second planet in size in the Sun System, with a diameter 10 times that of the Earth, but the gas giant is famous for its beautiful ring, whose origin remains an enigma. The ring comprises floating wide, flat discs of ice, varying in size from dust to over 10 ft (3 m) across. Some believe they rooted in ... |
25 October 2007
03:53 GMT |
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Have you ever imagined a tropical paradise at -274 °F (- 170 °C)? But on Earth…as such thing does exist on the Saturn's largest moon, Titan, the only moon in the Sun System large enough to have an atmosphere. Methane rainfall soaks dunes of ice or tar on Titan's arid deserts, like a frozen mirror image of E... |
3 October 2007
04:28 GMT |
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Disappointment for the alien life hunters. The only plausible model explaining the arrangement of fractures and ridges documented by Cassini on Enceladus, Saturn's icy moon, shows no liquid water and thus an unlikely environment for life.In June 30, 2004, the Cassini spacecraft has detected a south polar region ... |
20 August 2007
04:41 GMT |
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Saturn is a curious planet, not because it's a gas giant, the second largest planet in the solar system, or because of the fact that its equatorial and polar diameters differ by almost 10%. The most interesting aspect of this giant is the number of satellites.People often enjoy gazing at the Moon, our only natu... |
20 July 2007
04:20 GMT |
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Although we are used to the round or oval shape of most celestial bodies, some of them are just defying the cosmic laws and display some really weird characteristics. Saturn's moon, Iapetus, is one of these strange appearances, because it looks like a walnut instead of a sphere.The third-largest moon of Saturn ... |
18 July 2007
06:37 GMT |
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Hyperion, a satellite of Saturn, is one of the strangest moons in our solar system, whose behavior and composition has puzzled astronomers for many years. This moon really looks like a giant cosmic sponge, but there are many more weird properties that have just recently been explained.A highly irregular body in the ... |
5 July 2007
03:34 GMT |
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Saturn's satellite, Titan, is 50 percent larger than our Moon in diameter, and it's even larger by diameter and mass than all known dwarf planets, like Mercury, even though the latter is more than twice as massive.One of the satellite's curiosities is a strange radio signal emitted at an extremely low... |
14 June 2007
09:52 GMT |
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Saturn, the sixth planet from the Sun, is a gas giant and the second largest in the solar system. As of 2007, a total of 57 individual moons have been identified around the planet, plus 3 unconfirmed moons that could be small dust clumps in the rings. 35 moons have been named. Many of the moons are very small: out o... |
14 June 2007
08:28 GMT |
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Titan, Saturn's largest satellite, still holds some exciting surprises, as a new set of images from the European Space Agency show. Until very recently, this atmosphere inhibited understanding of Titan's surface, but the moon is currently undergoing study by the Cassini-Huygens mission and new information ... |
4 June 2007
05:17 GMT |
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Saturn, the sixth planet from the Sun, is a gas giant and the second largest in the solar system. Its weird properties, its rings and its large number of moons - the precise figure is uncertain - make the Saturnian system a freak show, attracting the attention of amateur and professional astronomers worldwide.First ... |
2 June 2007
07:12 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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Saturn is the second largest planet in the solar system, after Jupiter, and also a gas giant. Named after the Roman god Saturnus, it has a prominent system of rings, easy to spot with even a low-end observation equipment.At first glance, Saturn's rings may appear solid when viewed from Earth, due to the density... |
23 May 2007
02:58 GMT |
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This week, we will have a real "traffic jam" in the night sky. Four planets in our solar system plus the Moon will be visible even with the naked eye in the western sky. They are the closest planets to the Earth, but only for a brief period of time in a whole year can they be seen together in the sky. Amateur and pr... |
19 May 2007
07:10 GMT |
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