JPL: Cassini Finds Saturn's Rings Coat Tiny Moons
Posted: Thu Apr 04, 2019 7:44 pm
Cassini Finds Saturn's Rings Coat Tiny Moons
NASA | JPL-Caltech | Cassini | 2019 Mar 28
Close Cassini Flybys of Saturn’s Ring Moons Pan, Daphnis, Atlas, Pandora, and Epimetheus ~ B. J. Buratti et al
NASA | JPL-Caltech | Cassini | 2019 Mar 28
New findings have emerged about five tiny moons nestled in and near Saturn's rings. The closest-ever flybys by NASA's Cassini spacecraft reveal that the surfaces of these unusual moons are covered with material from the planet's rings - and from icy particles blasting out of Saturn's larger moon Enceladus. The work paints a picture of the competing processes shaping these mini-moons. ...
The new research, from data gathered by six of Cassini's instruments before its mission ended in 2017, is a clear confirmation that dust and ice from the rings accretes onto the moons embedded within and near the rings.
Scientists also found the moon surfaces to be highly porous, further confirming that they were formed in multiple stages as ring material settled onto denser cores that might be remnants of a larger object that broke apart. The porosity also helps explain their shape: Rather than being spherical, they are blobby and ravioli-like, with material stuck around their equators. ...
Close Cassini Flybys of Saturn’s Ring Moons Pan, Daphnis, Atlas, Pandora, and Epimetheus ~ B. J. Buratti et al
- Science (online 28 Mar 2019) DOI: 10.1126/science.aat2349