Cassini ring images delight scientists
Posted: Fri, Jul 2, 2004, 10:21 AM ET (1421 GMT)
Images of Saturn's rings taken by the Cassini spacecraft as it entered orbit around the planet this week are pleasing and surprising scientists with their level of detail and complexity. The images, transmitted to Earth on Thursday, hours after the spacecraft entered orbit, provided scientists with their sharpest view yet of the complex system or rings surrounding the planet. The images reveal patterns of density waves in the rings, as well as the scalloped inner edge of a ring, shaped by the gravity of a nearby moon. Other scientists reported that Cassini encountered the bow shock of the planet's magnetosphere earlier than expected, indicating that the bow shock was about 50 percent farther from the planet than where it was when Pioneer 11 and Voyagers 1 and 2 flew past the planet between 1979 and 1981.
Images of Saturn's rings taken by the Cassini spacecraft as it entered orbit around the planet this week are pleasing and surprising scientists with their level of detail and complexity. The images, transmitted to Earth on Thursday, hours after the spacecraft entered orbit, provided scientists with their sharpest view yet of the complex system or rings surrounding the planet. The images reveal patterns of density waves in the rings, as well as the scalloped inner edge of a ring, shaped by the gravity of a nearby moon. Other scientists reported that Cassini encountered the bow shock of the planet's magnetosphere earlier than expected, indicating that the bow shock was about 50 percent farther from the planet than where it was when Pioneer 11 and Voyagers 1 and 2 flew past the planet between 1979 and 1981.
Related Links:
| <<previous article | next article>> |
|
news in brief
|
|
FAA restricts hours for commercial launches during shutdown
Posted: Sun, Nov 9 9:05 AM ET (1405 GMT) China postpones Shenzhou-20 return on orbital debris concerns
Posted: Sun, Nov 9 8:58 AM ET (1358 GMT) |
|
news links
|
|
Friday, November 14
The woman fighting to stop Starlink in South Africa
MyBroadband — 5:59 am ET (1059 GMT) Starlink rival ‘Project Kuiper’ rebrands to Amazon Leo
The Verge — 5:59 am ET (1059 GMT) U.S. Space Force Hones Realistic Training For On-Orbit War
Aviation Week — 5:50 am ET (1050 GMT) Blue Origin nails booster landing on second New Glenn launch
Aerospace America — 5:46 am ET (1046 GMT) Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin pulls off first landing of its largest reusable rocket
Financial Times — 5:46 am ET (1046 GMT) |
