Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

pokerfan

(27,677 posts)
Sun Sep 16, 2012, 02:29 PM Sep 2012

Just when I thought pictures from Saturn couldn't get any better



Explanation: How old are Saturn's rings? No one is quite sure. One possibility is that the rings formed relatively recently in our Solar System's history, perhaps only about 100 million years ago when a moon-sized object broke up near Saturn. Evidence for a young ring age includes a basic stability analysis for rings, and the fact that the rings are so bright and relatively unaffected by numerous small dark meteor impacts. More recent evidence, however, raises the possibility that some of Saturn's rings may be billions of years old and so almost as old as Saturn itself. Inspection of images by the Saturn-orbiting Cassini spacecraft indicates that some of Saturn's ring particles temporarily bunch and collide, effectively recycling ring particles by bringing fresh bright ices to the surface. Seen here, Saturn's rings were imaged in their true colors by the robotic Cassini in late October. Icy bright Tethys, a moon of Saturn likely brightened by a sandblasting rain of ice from sister moon Enceladus, is visible in front of the darker rings.

http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap120916.html
8 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
Just when I thought pictures from Saturn couldn't get any better (Original Post) pokerfan Sep 2012 OP
Breathtaking! Thank you! nt Mnemosyne Sep 2012 #1
Breathtaking and humbling. Thanks for the post! Surya Gayatri Sep 2012 #2
Unbelievable clarity. Thank you so much for sharing!! jillan Sep 2012 #3
Isn't that the Death Star? deutsey Sep 2012 #4
That's no moon... pokerfan Sep 2012 #5
Cool info! That crater is what made me think of the Death Star. deutsey Sep 2012 #7
Unbelievable Photo elbloggoZY27 Sep 2012 #6
Very Awesome... makes a great desktop photo backround... :-) n/t Yooperman Sep 2012 #8

pokerfan

(27,677 posts)
5. That's no moon...
Sun Sep 16, 2012, 04:20 PM
Sep 2012

At first glance I thought it might be Mimas (nicknamed the Death Star) but Tethys also has a similarly large crater....

Tethys:

Huge, shallow crater Odysseus, with its uplifted central complex, the Scheria Montes, is at the top of this image.

Mimas:

Mimas with its large crater Herschel. Prominent bright-walled craters in this view include Ban just left of center near top, and Percivale (with several dark streaks) two thirds of the way left of Herschel.


When seen from certain angles, Mimas closely resembles the Death Star, a fictional space station known from the film Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, which is said to be roughly 140 kilometres in diameter. This resemblance stems from the fact that Herschel can appear in Mimas's northern hemisphere, much like the concave disc of the Death Star's "superlaser".

 

elbloggoZY27

(283 posts)
6. Unbelievable Photo
Sun Sep 16, 2012, 05:36 PM
Sep 2012

The Universe especially our Galaxy is a grand place. We may never really know what events took place that created such great planets and moons. Exactly what dynamics took place that could not only give us the really huge Universe but the science had to be perfect in every detail or even we here on this planet called Earth would not exist.

Latest Discussions»Culture Forums»Science»Just when I thought pictu...