That means, according to scientists, Titan could have the right conditions for life to develop. On July 19, , Cassini snapped a very special vista of our home world. The spacecraft slipped into Saturn's shadow and, with the sun blocked, it was able to image not only Saturn, but seven of its moons, its inner rings -- and, in the background, Earth and our moon.
Springtime on Saturn: Cassini's wide angle camera shot 75 images showing Saturn, its rings, and some of its moons just after the Spring equinox. An equinox occurs when the sun's disk is exactly over a planet's equator. These images were taken on August 12, , a little more than a day after the exact equinox. Saturn appears to sit in a nest of rings in this composite of 45 images Cassini took on May 9, The spacecraft was about , miles 1. Saturn's moon, Enceladus, is a small, icy world.
For scientists, it's also one of the most interesting places in our solar system. Cassini discovered Enceladus is an active moon with a global ocean of liquid salty water beneath its crust. Planetary scientists now think Enceladus may possibly be hospitable to life. This mosaic was created from 21 false-color images taken during Cassini's close approaches to Enceladus on March 9 and July 14, This mosaic of nine images shows Saturn's moon Titan during Cassini's first very close flyby on October 26, The spacecraft was at distances ranging from about , miles , kilometers to , miles , kilometers from Titan when the images were taken.
Saturn's pale colors and its rings come into view as Cassini approaches on May 7, This composite was made from images taken when Cassini was about 18 million miles 29 million kilometers from Saturn. It also shows some of Saturn's moons. Tethys, which is composed primarily of water ice, was discovered by the Cassini mission's namesake, Italian astronomer and mathematician Giovanni Domenico Cassini, in Odysseus isn't the only outsize feature on Tethys; the satellite also features a 1,mile-long 2, km canyon called Ithaca Chasma that's 62 miles km wide in places.
In January , the mission's Huygens lander touched down on the surface of Titan, the ringed planet's largest moon. Atmospheric Circulation Cells on Earth and Jupiter. Oscillating Cyclones at Jupiter's South Pole. Jupiter's Bands. Skip to main content. About JPL. Engage With JPL. Solar System. Oct 29, This hexagon-shaped pattern was first noticed in images from the Voyager I spacecraft and has been more closely observed by the Cassini spacecraft since.
Spanning about 20, miles 30, kilometers across, the hexagon is a wavy jet stream of mile-per-hour winds about kilometers per hour with a massive, rotating storm at the center. There is no weather feature like it anywhere else in the solar system. Saturn's magnetic field is smaller than Jupiter's but still times as powerful as Earth's.
Saturn, the rings, and many of the satellites lie totally within Saturn's enormous magnetosphere, the region of space in which the behavior of electrically charged particles is influenced more by Saturn's magnetic field than by the solar wind.
Aurorae occur when charged particles spiral into a planet's atmosphere along magnetic field lines. On Earth, these charged particles come from the solar wind. Cassini showed that at least some of Saturn's aurorae are like Jupiter's and are largely unaffected by the solar wind.
Instead, these aurorae are caused by a combination of particles ejected from Saturn's moons and Saturn's magnetic field's rapid rotation rate. But these "non-solar-originating" aurorae are not completely understood yet. Introduction Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second-largest planet in our solar system.
Namesake Namesake The farthest planet from Earth discovered by the unaided human eye, Saturn has been known since ancient times. Potential for Life Potential for Life Saturn's environment is not conducive to life as we know it. Size and Distance Size and Distance With a radius of 36, A 3D model of Saturn, the ringed gas giant planet.
This page showcases our resources for those interested in learning more about Saturn and Titan. Saturn and Titan Resources.
JPL's lucky peanuts are an unofficial tradition at big mission events. Full Moon Guide: October - November A new paper details how the hydrological cycle of the now-dry lake at Jezero Crater is more complicated than originally thought.
This year, the minimum extent of Arctic sea ice dropped to 1. The lander cleared enough dust from one solar panel to keep its seismometer on through the summer, allowing scientists to study three big quakes.
0コメント