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TOPIC: 60 Saturn moons
Blobrana


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Saturn moons
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The Cassini probe has caught its first glimpse of one Saturn moon eclipsing another, as the moon Enceladus passed in front of its neighbour Mimas.
Most of Saturn's moons orbit in the same plane as its rings, along the planet's equator. This arrangement creates frequent alignments, but eclipses are rare because the sun must illuminate this plane almost edge-on in order for moon shadows to be cast in the right direction.
For the first time in almost 15 years, Saturn has reached a spot in its orbit where such events can be seen. The planet's rings, which are tilted by some 27°, will be illuminated perfectly edge-on during Saturn's equinox on 11 August 2009.

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Blobrana


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Saturn satellites
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Title: Saturn satellites as seen by Cassini Mission
Authors: A. Coradini, F. Capaccioni, P. Cerroni, G. Filacchione, G. Magni, R. Orosei, F. Tosi, D. Turrini

In this paper we will summarise some of the most important results of the Cassini mission concerning the satellites of Saturn. Given the long duration of the mission, the complexity of the payload onboard the Cassini Orbiter and the amount of data gathered on the satellites of Saturn, it would be impossible to describe all the new discoveries made, therefore we will describe only some selected, paramount examples showing how Cassini's data confirmed and extended ground-based observations. In particular we will describe the achievements obtained for the satellites Phoebe, Enceladus and Titan. We will also put these examples in the perspective of the overall evolution of the system, stressing out why the selected satellites are representative of the overall evolution of the Saturn system.

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Blobrana


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Aegaeon
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A new name for the Saturnian satellite S/2008 S 1 (LIII).

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Blobrana


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S/ 2008 S 1
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The International Astronomical Union (IAU) has approved the name Aegaeon, for the Saturnian Satellite previously designated Saturn LIII (provisional S/2008 S 1).
Aegaeon was discovered by the Cassini Imaging Science Team on the 15th August, 2008.
Aegaeon orbits within Saturn's G Ring, and is likely the source of the G ring.
The satellite is name after Briareus, a mythological hundred-armed giant.

Ed ~ in  Homer's Iliad, he describes that men called the giant Aegaeon, but the gods called him Briareus.

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Blobrana


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RE: 60 Saturn moons
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Exploring the moons of Saturn



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Blobrana


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S/ 2008 S 1
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S/ 2008 S 1, a new satellite of Saturn.

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Blobrana


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RE: 60 Saturn moons
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On Feb. 24, 2009, NASA's Hubble Space Telescope took a photo of four moons of Saturn passing in front of their parent planet. The pictures were taken by the Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2, developed and built by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California.

In the new view, the giant orange moon Titan casts a large shadow onto Saturn's north polar hood. Below Titan, near the ring plane and to the left, is the moon Mimas, casting a much smaller shadow onto Saturn's equatorial cloud tops. Farther to the left, and off Saturn's disk, are the bright moons Dione and the fainter Enceladus.
These rare moon transits only happen when the tilt of Saturn's ring plane is nearly "edge on" as seen from Earth. Saturn's rings will be perfectly edge on to our line of sight on Aug. 10, 2009, and Sept. 4, 2009. Unfortunately, Saturn will be too close to the sun to be seen by viewers on Earth at that time. This "ring plane crossing" occurs every 14 to 15 years. In 1995 to 1996, Hubble witnessed the ring plane crossing event as well as many moon transits, and even helped discover several new moons of Saturn.


Quadruple Saturn Moon Transit Snapped by Hubble

Saturn's comparatively paper-thin rings are tilted edge on to Earth every 15 years. Because the orbits of Saturn's major satellites are in the ring plane, too, this alignment gives astronomers a rare opportunity to capture a truly spectacular parade of celestial bodies crossing the face of Saturn. Leading the parade is Saturn's giant moon Titan - larger than the planet Mercury. The frigid moon's thick nitrogen atmosphere is tinted orange with the smoggy byproducts of sunlight interacting with methane and nitrogen. Several of the much smaller icy moons that are closer in to the planet line up along the upper edge of the rings.

Hubble's exquisite sharpness also reveals Saturn's banded cloud structure.

Source

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Blobrana


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Something is about to happen on Saturn that's so pretty, even Hubble will pause to take a look.

February 24, 2009 marks the time to see a rare glimpse of the moons Titan, Mimas, Dione, and Enceladus move across the face of their mother planet Saturn. As an added treat, see Comet Lulin streak across this same darkened sky only a few degrees away from Saturn.

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Blobrana


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How many moons are there around Saturn?


The saturnian system is an astronomer's dream - an "active" system with rings interacting with moons, moons with atmospheres and surfaces with fascinating features giving us whole new worlds to explore.

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Blobrana


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Saturn moons
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Despite the incredible diversity of Saturns icy moons, theirs is a story of great interaction. Some are pock-marked, some seemingly dirty, others pristine, one spongy, one two-faced, some still spewing with activity and some seeming to be captured from the far reaches of the solar system. Yet many of them have a common thread - black stuff coating their surfaces.

We are beginning to unravel the mysteries of these different and strange moons - Rosaly Lopes, Cassini scientist at NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), USA.

She coordinated a special section of 14 papers about Saturns icy moons that appears in the February issue of the journal Icarus.

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