Astronomers this week were excited to announce that new images taken by NASA’s Cassini spacecraft may show a how a new, icy moon could form within Saturn‘s rings. The images show what NASA is describing as “disturbances” on the edge…
New Saturn North Pole Storm Images Released
NASA today released new images of Saturn taken by the Cassini spacecraft. The images are the highest-ever resolution photos of the planet’s north pole. The images depict the so-called “hexagon” jet stream located near the north pole of Saturn. The…
Saturn Moon Titan Has Something Earth Needs
Our solar system seems to be shrinking. Planning on moving to Mars? The idea sounded crazy in the past; however, recent strides show that this may become a reality within the near future. Now evidence has surfaced that a moon…
Propylene Found on Saturn’s Moon Titan
Of all the Saturnian moons examined by NASA’s Cassini probe, Titan is consistently the most interesting. Researchers have observed large lakes on the moon’s surface, a vortex that formed rapidly, possible hydrocarbon sand deposits, and what appears to be a…
Massive Storm Kicked Up Water Ice On Saturn
Saturn has been known to erupt in storms from time to time. Though not as active as Jupiter, the weather in Saturn’s atmosphere has been known to form large swirling vortexes. Now, in one of the largest storms ever observed…
Saturn’s Moon Titan May Have Solid Ice Shell
Saturn’s Moon Titan has consistently been one of the most fascinating objects in our solar system. In just the past two years, astronomers have found large bodies of water on the moon, seen the satellite’s weather form a seasonal vortex,…
Cassini Saturn Photo Great Opportunity For “Cosmic Awareness”
Cassini spacecraft is set to capture a rare photo of Earth today as it sits to one side of Saturn’s rings, and Carolyn Porco, the leader of Cassini’s imaging team, says the picture is a great opportunity for us to…
In Saturn’s Rings Might Be The Most Beautiful Film Ever Made
The advent of special effects and CG has ensured that a lot of the movies made today are at least visually pleasing. As beautiful as these films have become, however, they still have nothing on nature. In Saturn’s Rings is…
eBay Ups Its Search Game With Cassini
eBay has a new search engine powering the results on its site, and from the sound of it, it’s a huge step up from the search experience of years past. It’s called Cassini, and we first heard about it a…
Cassini to Take Another Photo of Earth From Saturn
One of the most famous images taken by NASA’s Cassini spacecraft is of Saturn as it eclipses the Sun. With the gas giant bathed in shadow, a tiny speck called Earth can be seen in the photo. This week, NASA…
Monster Saturn Hurricane Imaged by Cassini
NASA has revealed new pictures and of a massive hurricane on Saturn taken by the Cassini spacecraft. The images depict a hurricane in Saturn’s north pole region. The eye of the storm is around 2,000 kilometers (1,250 miles) in diameter.…
Meteors Spotted Hitting Saturn’s Rings
Watching stellar impacts as they occur is a rare treat for astronomers. The famous Shoemaker-Levy 9 impact on Jupiter (which left water in the planet’s atmosphere), which happened only 20 years ago, was the first directly-seen extraterrestrial collision in the…
NASA’s Cassini Probe Finds Accelerated Particles Around Saturn
NASA this week revealed that a “chance encounter” with solar wind around Saturn has allowed the Cassini probe to detect particles being accelerated to high energy states. The phenomenon is similar to the acceleration of high-energy cosmic rays found coming…
Cassini Spots Smog Formation on Titan
A new paper using data from NASA‘s Cassini probe has described in detail how aerosols begin to form in the highest part of the atmosphere of Saturn’s moon Titan. The research, say scientists, could help predict how “smoggy aerosol layers”…
Cassini Spotted Storm Eating Itself on Saturn
NASA‘s Cassini probe has spotted a storm on Saturn that has “consumed” itself. The massive storm whirled around the planet until it ran into its own tail end and dispersed. A new paper on the event, published in the journal…
Titan’s Craters Could be Filled With Hydrocarbon Sand, Says NASA
New findings from NASA‘s Cassini probe have revealed that Saturn’s moon Titan may look younger than it really is. Dunes of hydrocarbon sand have been slowly filling up the craters that pockmark the moon. “Most of the Saturnian satellites –…
Ice May Float on Titan’s Seas, Finds New Study
Scientists have published a new study that concludes Saturn’s moon Titan might have ice floating in its seas. The presence of hydrocarbon ice in Titan’s methane lakes and seas could explain the mixed readings NASA‘s Cassini probe has seen while…
NASA Releases New Cassini, Spitzer Photos For the Holidays
Just in time for the holidays, NASA has released two new space photos filled with festive greens and reds. The photo seen above (a larger version of which can be seen here) was taken using NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope. the…
Cassini to Track Venus Transit, Study Exoplanets
NASA announced today that it will begin using the Cassini probe’s visual and infrared mapping spectrometer (VIMS) for uses other than studying Saturn and its moons. On Friday, from its vantage point in orbit around Saturn, the VIMS will be…
Cassini Spots “Mini Nile River” on Saturn’s Titan
The Cassini probe orbiting Saturn and its moons has photographed what the European Space Agency (ESA) is calling a “miniature extraterrestrial version of the Nile river” on Saturn’s moon Titan. The formation is a river valley on the the moon’s…