Saturn images - Cassini

[jmorgan]

And now we have Pan


https://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/news/3005/cassini-reve...

Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute



Space ships......

Or giant space hamburgers.

Edited by jmorgan on Thursday 9th March 21:38

[nammynake]

Delicious...

[Eric Mc]

What a weird little moon.

[jmorgan]

nammynake said:

Delicious...

Hells bells, forgot about them, wonder what chemicals I gladly stuffed down as a nipper.

Not big enough to suck it all in, wonder how that has accreted like that. Taking in bits of the rings as it orbits.
http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/pan/indepth

[jmorgan]

The hexagon
https://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/raw_images/408713/

Uncalibrated etc. With a black hole......

[jmorgan]

Looking good.
Image credit
NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute
http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA20530

[anonymous-user]

That's beautiful!

[jmorgan]

There are a lot in the raw images, have to winkle them out though, it is warts n all.

https://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/galleries/raw-images/

[jmorgan]

More weird. Atlas. Not exactly in the classical sense, more squished holding them worlds up.
Or a soggy ET ship.
Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute
https://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/raw_images/411314/

[jmorgan]

Few days to the last close titan flyby
https://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/news/3019/titan-flyby-...

[funkyrobot]

Can't believe Cassini will be killed in September.

[Moonhawk]

funkyrobot said:

Can't believe Cassini will be killed in September.

I know - some of the most stunning images ever produced.

We need a Cassini-2 for Jupiter

[AshVX220]

jmorgan said:

More weird. Atlas. Not exactly in the classical sense, more squished holding them worlds up.
Or a soggy ET ship.
Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute
https://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/raw_images/411314/

When I look at that picture, I wonder if the outer surface is made up of really tiny particles, as it looks so smooth. And if so, with the object itself being quite small with a very tiny gravity, do those particles shift, or ripple. Almost like a liquid as the hold the object has on them is so small. So, the surface of that object may be seen to actually move if you could video it. Any thoughts, or am I talking/thinking bks?!?!

[Eric Mc]

Probably the latter

I would say that the environment around Saturn can be very dusty and if you are small world with small features, accumulated dust will smooth out those features over billions of years.

[jmorgan]

Not forgetting where it sits in the ring system.

Rather poignent. Smile, we are on camera.
https://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/resources/7656/
Image Credit
NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute

[Gandahar]

Eric Mc said:

Probably the latter

I would say that the environment around Saturn can be very dusty and if you are small world with small features, accumulated dust will smooth out those features over billions of years.

Why is it not uniformly spread out over the full surface then?

[jmorgan]

Shepherd moon?

[funkyrobot]

Cassini should be doing the first ring dive now. Hope it goes ok. We won't know until around 8am tomorrow.

[Eric Mc]

Gandahar said:

Eric Mc said:

Probably the latter

I would say that the environment around Saturn can be very dusty and if you are small world with small features, accumulated dust will smooth out those features over billions of years.

Why is it not uniformly spread out over the full surface then?

Small moons like that are usually tidally locked - so they stay facing in one ditrection as they orbit their host planet. That means one face meets the dust and the other doesn't. It's why they think Iapetus (also a moon of Saturn) has one dark face and one bright face.

[jmorgan]

funkyrobot said:

Cassini should be doing the first ring dive now. Hope it goes ok. We won't know until around 8am tomorrow.

Out of contact now. For a short while.