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NASA’s smell-o-scope experiment sniffs Saturn’s moon Titan

Good news, everyone! NASA has came up with an interplanetary smell-o-scope experiment, processing data from the Cassini spacecraft and reproducing the smell of another world right here on Earth: Saturn’s moon Titan. (Spoiler: It stinks.) A team led by Joshua Sebree—assistant professor at the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls and former postdoctoral fellow … Continued

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Creating the Rings of Saturn

How long would it take for Saturn to form its rings? Phil Plait of the Bad Astronomer blog goes on a research-binge with a bit of casual mathematics to figure out it would take a surprisingly short time for a diffuse ring, especially considering the usual mind-boggling timescales in astronomy. Image: Saturn’s rings as seen … Continued

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What Is This Giant, Swirling Hexagon At Saturn’s North Pole?

Something is going on at Saturn’s North Pole — something big, swirling, and shaped like a giant hexagon. So just what is it? Carolyn Porco, the leader of Cassini’s Imaging Team, explains it to us. Top Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SSI/Hampton University Porco joined us today to take our questions about life on other planets, the ocean on … Continued

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Are the Spokes in Saturn’s Rings Merely an Optical Illusion?

Among all the strange things about Saturn’s rings one of the strangest are the mysterious radial “spokes” in its B Ring. At first thought to be caused by the same sort of gravitational interactions between Saturn, its moons and the ring material that create the myriad divisions in the rings, information gathered by the Cassini … Continued

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Here’s the Story Behind Those Lights at Saturn’s North Pole

Stunning ultraviolet images captured by the Hubble Space Telescope show bursts of light zipping around Saturn. These are aurorae, created as the planet’s magnetic field is battered by charged particles from the sun. Scientists studying the auroras say this latest data finally reveals the unseen dynamics in the choreography of the dancing lights. University of … Continued

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Hubble Sees High-Speed Dancing Aurora on Saturn

This GIF shows a fast-paced light show on the north pole of Saturn, as captured by the European Space Agency’s Hubble Space Telescope in April and May of 2013. The images was just now released by the ESA. http://www.esa.int/spaceinimages/Images/2014/05/Hubble_sees_aurora_on_Saturn I put together this animation using six new ultraviolet images, taken by Hubble’s super-sensitive Advanced Camera … Continued

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The Last Thing We’d See If Saturn Got Close Enough To Destroy The Earth

Over the weekend, Saturn got as close to the Earth as it will get this year—but it’s still 1.3 billion kilometers away. But what if Saturn somehow left its orbit and paid us a very close visit? It would look pretty stunning before it destroyed our home planet. Animator yeti dynamics, also known as Nick, … Continued

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A beautiful view of Saturn’s rings

NASA has released this beautiful image of the Saturn rings, looking straight down—the outer portion of the C ring and the inner portion of the B ring. According to NASA, “the general pattern is from “dirty” particles indicated by red to cleaner ice particles shown in turquoise in the outer parts of the rings.” This … Continued

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A beautiful photo of Saturn taken last Monday

Our friend Val Klavans sent us this beautiful image of Saturn in approximate true color, taken on May 5 by Cassini. This is how your eyes would see it if you were there looking down from a high angle, at approximately 1,837,403 miles (2,957,013 kilometers) away from the planet. Val processed it from the images … Continued

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Saturn’s Rings Are Even Weirder (And Prettier) Up-Close

The shape of Saturn’s rings is usually what gets all the attention — but what can the colors tell us? The picture was shot by Cassini’s Ultraviolet Spectrograph camera as it did a fly-by of the famous rings and represents a cross-section about 10,000 km across. These rainbow colors don’t just look cool, though — … Continued

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Saturn’s Rings as a Cosmic Rainbow

You’ve never seen Saturn’s rings like this before. Captured using Cassini’s Ultraviolet Imaging Spectrograph detector, it shows the rings in the ultraviolet spectrum—and the result is incredibly colorful. The image shows the portion of the C-ring closest to Saturn on the left, with the B-ring beginning just right of center. Incidentally, the rings were named … Continued

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Simulation of Saturn passing by Earth on a collision course to the Sun

The always cool Yeti Dynamics has released another brilliant scientific simulation: What would Earth’s sky look like if Saturn went off its orbit to race into the inner solar system on its way to the Sun and our planet was on its path? I just love these impossible but visually arresting scenarios. Of course, aside … Continued

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A Remarkable View Of Uranus As Seen Through The Rings Of Saturn

Just released by NASA’s Cassini Imaging Team, the picture above shows Uranus as a tiny blue orb shining far beyond the bright hazy bands of Saturn’s F ring. When you hear the words “pale blue dot” you probably are reminded of the famous quote by Carl Sagan inspired by an image of Earth as a … Continued

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You Are Really Lonely When One Of Your Neighbors Is This Close

NASA’s Cassini spacecraft has just captured another Pale Blue Dot image while orbiting Saturn. The difference is that, in this view, unlike the one from July 19, 2013, that featured Earth, the blue orb is Uranus, imaged by Cassini for the first time. So that tiny dot hanging out there in the blackness of space … Continued

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More People Need To Know About Carolyn Porco

We didn’t think it was possible to love Carolyn Porco – team lead of NASA’s Cassini Mission – any more than we already did. We were wrong. This interview – in which Porco discusses her fascination with astronomy and planets, and how that fascination led her down her remarkable career path – was conducted by … Continued

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Wow, scientists reveal a new moon forming on the edge of Saturn’s rings

For the first time in history, scientists are witnessing the formation of a new moon in our solar system. NASA’s Cassini spacecraft has detected a new moon forming in the edge of Saturn’s rings. Astronomers around the world are amazed about this incredible find, which they have named Peggy.* It’s really exciting to see this … Continued

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Saturn May Have Just Spawned A New Moon

New images acquired by Cassini show a bright clump orbiting Saturn at the outermost edge of its outer ring. Astronomers say it could be a brand new moon in the process of being born. The images show a 745-mile-long (1,200 km) and 6-mile-wide (10 km) arc of icy material traveling along the edge of the … Continued

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Breathtaking Illustrations Show The Splendor Of Ringed Planets

Is there any more beautiful than a ringed planet? It’s like an instant signifier of an exotic, non-Earth world. And the sight of a ring floating around an entire world is one of the most poetic and astonishing vistas the universe has to offer. And luckily, some immensely talented artists have created illustrations showing the … Continued

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NASA finds hidden water ocean in Saturn moon, may contain alien life

NASA has found a subterranean ocean in Enceladus, “a large underground ocean of liquid water.” According to the space agency, this may be a potential home to extraterrestrial life. Enceladus was out of the list of potential life harbors in the solar system until now, the other major candidates being Titan and Europa. The data … Continued

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A Massive Lake of Water on One of Saturn’s Moons Could Support Life

Saturn’s moons are full of surprises, and a team of researchers monitoring the Cassini spacecraft think that a body of water the size of Lake Superior is one of them. The lake is hiding beneath the surface of the icy moon Enceladus. And it may be the best place to find alien life in our … Continued