Saturns

This animation depicts NASA’s OSIRIS-REx collecting a sample on asteroid Bennu.<span class="glossaryLink" aria-describedby="tt" data-cmtooltip="<div class=glossaryItemTitle>NASA</div><div class=glossaryItemBody>Established in 1958, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is an independent agency of the United States Federal Government that succeeded the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA). It is responsible for the civilian space program, as…

Artist’s impression of the Dragonfly rotorcraft-lander on the surface of Titan, Saturn’s largest moon and a major target in NASA’s quest to assess habitability and search for potential signs of life beyond Earth on worlds across the solar system. Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins APL/Steve GribbenNASA’s Dragonfly Team Soars through Major Design ReviewThe Dragonfly mission, led by the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL), recently passed the weeklong Preliminary Design Review (PDR), a critical milestone. APL, <span…

Earth's temperature is soaring mainly because of global warming. But, we cannot say the same for the other planets of our solar system. NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has figured out the reason behind the heating up of Saturn's atmosphere. It is because of the planet's own rings. Informing about the same NASA said in a release, "The secret has been hiding in plain view for 40 years. But it took the insight of a veteran astronomer to pull it all together within a year, using observations of Saturn from NASA's Hubble Space…

Titan, the biggest moon of Saturn, is the second largest moon in our solar system. It is an icy celestial body concealed by a golden hazy atmosphere. According to NASA, only Ganymede, the moon of Jupiter, is bigger than Titan. Titan is more massive than Earth's moon and exceeds the size of the planet Mercury. Moreover, Titan is the only moon in the solar system with a dense atmosphere, and it's the only world besides Earth that has standing bodies of liquid, including rivers, lakes and seas, on its surface, as per…

Rise of life in the universe is the most critical research activity of them all. Scientists and researchers have been trying to find the answers to reveal the chemistry that leads to the development of life. Now, NASA is all prepped for a mission called Dragonfly to Saturn's moon Titan in an attempt to find some answers. "A new NASA mission to Saturn's giant moon, Titan, is due to launch in 2027. When it arrives in the mid-2030s, it will begin a journey of discovery that could bring about a new understanding of the…

Artist’s Impression of Dragonfly on Titan’s surface. Taking advantage of Titan’s dense atmosphere and low gravity, Dragonfly will explore dozens of locations across the icy world, sampling and measuring the compositions of Titan’s organic surface materials to characterize the habitability of Titan’s environment and investigate the progression of prebiotic chemistry. Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins APLA new <span class="glossaryLink" aria-describedby="tt" data-cmtooltip="<div…

Do you know how many moons Saturn has? The planet has a total of 83 moons, out of which 63 moons are confirmed and named. While, the other 20 moons are awaiting confirmation of discovery and official naming by the International Astronomical Union (IAU), according to NASA. Today's NASA astronomy picture of the day is about one of Saturn's moons named Hyperion. It is the largest of Saturn's irregular, non-spherical moons, and has odd craters.Captioning the image of the day titled 'Saturn's Hyperion: A Moon with Odd…

Mystery silica ejected in huge quantities from Saturn's icy moon Enceladus is powerful new evidence pointing to heat vents on the floor of a global ocean.According to a new analytical model, internal heating from the moon's core creates ocean currents that transport the silica particles, which are ejected from deep-sea hydrothermal vents that also release heat into the surrounding waters.It's a tantalizing finding that teases a real possibility of the existence of life, deep below an alien ocean on an alien world.When…

Saturn has a total of 83 moons, ranging in size from larger than the planet Mercury – the giant moon Titan – to as small as a sports arena. Among these, the third largest moon of Saturn is Iapetus which has a mean radius of around 457 miles (736 kilometres) and a density only 1.2 times that of liquid water. But there is something strange regarding its surface! In the latest image shared by NASA as the Astronomy Picture of the Day 26 February, this moon looks like a walnut. The image was captured by the Cassini…

Scientists continue to be baffled by a strange occurrence in Saturn’s rings. According to the space agency, spokes on Saturn’s rings have been a point of contention and bafflement among astronomers for decades since their discovery in the 1980s by NASA’s Voyager mission. These temporary features seem to appear within Saturn’s rings before the start of the planet’s autumn equinox. With the planet’s autumn equinox expected to start in 2025, spoke season has begun on the ringed gas giant, with spokes appearing on…