spacetoday.net: Cassini finds new ring, objects at Saturn

Posted: Mon, Sep 13, 2004, 8:33 AM ET (1233 GMT)
Cassini image of S/2004 S3 (NASA/JPL)

Images taken by NASA's Cassini spacecraft have turned up a previously-unknown faint ring around Saturn as well as one or two unidentified objects that could be moons. Images of the planet, taken in late June shortly before Cassini entered orbit around Saturn, revealed a faint ring associated with the moon Atlas. The ring, designated S/2004 1R, is about 138,000 km from the planet and estimated to be about 300 km wide. The same set of images also revealed an object, S/2004 S3, on the outer edge of Saturn's F ring. Planetary scientists suspect the object is a moon, but the object could also be a temporary clump of ring material. A second object, S/2004 S4, was also seen in the images. The two objects are likely not the same because it would result in an orbit that crossed the F ring.