Cassini

Good news, everyone! Scientists discovered additional evidence suggesting the potential habitability of a peculiar icy moon orbiting Saturn, one of the planet’s 146 moons.Google’s AI Isn’t a Gimmick, It’s the Future | AI UnlockedAlthough tiny, Enceladus is one of the most likely places in the solar system to host life. Over the years of research, Enceladus has stacked up plenty of data to back up this claim as the moon spews organic compounds that are essential ingredients for life. Now, scientists have found more reason…

NASA recently shared an image of Saturn on its Instagram handle. The image showed a large portion of the distant celestial body, its moon Mimas at a distance and the planet's ring. It said that the image was captured by its Cassini spacecraft from around 5,76,000 miles (9,27,000 km) away. But for some, this is not the best photograph sent by Cassini. July 19 marked the 10th anniversary of a rare image taken by the wide-angle camera on NASA's Cassini spacecraft. The photo showed Saturn's rings and our planet Earth and its…

Mars and Saturn’s moon Titan are of a shared scientific interest: the two worlds boast river channels similar to those on our own planet.Teyonah Parris and John Boyega on Working With Jamie Foxx | io9 InterviewThough Mars’ water networks dried up long ago, Titan’s liquid methane and ethane rivers are still coursing on the moon’s surface today. Both kinds are of scientific interest because they could reveal the role rivers play in shaping the worlds’ environments. Given water’s role in supporting life as we know it, the…

On Earth, storms are a common occurrence, often taking the form of spirals or circular patterns. Can they also take a hexagonal shape? Well, that is something exclusive to Saturn! The distinctive hexagon-shaped cloud patterns observed on Saturn's North Pole remain a unique and intriguing phenomenon within our solar system.NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day for June 18 is hexagon clouds over Saturn! The formation of a hexagon on Saturn's clouds is a fascinating mystery. This peculiar phenomenon was initially observed…

Artist’s impression of the Cassini spacecraft flying through plumes erupting from the south pole of Saturn’s moon Enceladus. These plumes are much like geysers and expel a combination of water vapor, ice grains, salts, methane, and other organic molecules. Credit: NASA/JPL-CaltechPhosphorus, a key chemical element for many biological processes, has been found in icy grains emitted by the small moon and is likely abundant in its subsurface ocean.Phosphorus, a vital element for life, has been discovered in icy grains…

Scientists studying data from the Cassini spacecraft, a probe sent by the US space agency NASA, have made an important discovery on one of Saturn's icy moons. They have found high concentrations of phosphorus, which is crucial for all living processes on Earth.This phosphorus was detected in ice crystals below the surface of Enceladus, Saturn's moon that has an ocean beneath its icy exterior. Finding phosphorus is a significant breakthrough for the possibility of alien life on this moon. Researchers had already found six…

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Left: Pioneer 10's view of Jupiter in March 1973. Right: Webb Telescope’s view of Jupiter in July 2022. Image: NASA, ESA, CSA, Jupiter ERS Team; image processing by Judy SchmidtFor centuries, astronomers were limited to ground-based observations of the planets, but now we use spacecraft to capture close-up views of our neighboring worlds. Excitingly, our views of solar system planets have been getting progressively better over the decades, as these images attest.The dawn of the Space Age finally made it possible for…