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| Scientists baffled by change in Saturn's rings |
| 2005-09-06 |
| New observations by the international Cassini spacecraft reveal that Saturn's trademark shimmering rings, which have dazzled astronomers since Galileo's time, have dramatically changed over just the past 25 years. Among the most surprising findings is that parts of Saturn's innermost ring -- the D ring -- have grown dimmer since the Voyager spacecraft flew by the planet in 1981, and a piece of the D ring has moved 125 miles inward toward Saturn. While scientists puzzle over what caused the changes, their observations could reveal something about the age and lifetime of the rings. Cassini-related discoveries were discussed Monday at a meeting of the American Astronomical Society's division of planetary sciences in Cambridge, England. "I don't think Saturn's rings will disappear anytime soon, but this tells us how the rings are evolving and how long they might last, " deputy project scientist Linda Spilker said in a telephone interview from England. Scientists are interested in Saturn's rings because they are a model of the disk of gas and dust that initially surrounded the sun. Studying them could yield important clues about how the planets formed from that disc 4.5 billion years ago. The ring observations were made this summer. The $3.3 billion Cassini mission, funded by NASA and the European and Italian space agencies, was launched in 1997. Cassini is managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |
| #10 Uranus'rings are fine however the number of dingl berries is increaseing. |
| Posted by: raptor 2005-09-06 20:26 |
| #9 Did they find a large black box with proportions 1:4:9? |
| Posted by: Eric Jablow 2005-09-06 10:54 |
| #8 Years ago there was some dustup when one of the first probes to visit Saturn (Voyager, maybe?) found what appeared to be three rings threaded together. A science fact writer for Analog magazine coined the term "The Blivet in the B-Ring" for this oddity - which I don't believe can be seen in Cassini's pictures today. So, where'd the blivet go anyway? Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle used the blivet as part of the plot for their novel Footfall (the threaded rings were an artifact of an alien spacecrafts' drive system). Richard Hoagland has noted some very strange things regarding one of Saturns' moons as well (a strangely symmetrical polyhedral shape and a equatorial mountain range that looks very artificial from any standpoint). Anyway you look at it, Saturn is a very strange place. |
| Posted by: LC FOTSGreg 2005-09-06 10:12 |
| #7 Years ago there was some dustup when one of the first probes to visit Saturn (Voyager, maybe?) found what appeared to be three rings threaded together. A science fact writer for Analog magazine coined the term "The Blivet in the B-Ring" for this oddity - which I don't believe can be seen in Cassini's pictures today. So, where'd the blivet go anyway? Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle used the blivet as part of the plot for their novel Footfall (the threaded rings were an artifact of an alien spacecrafts' drive system). Richard Hoagland has noted some very strange things regarding one of Saturns' moons as well (a strangely symmetrical polyhedral shape and a equatorial mountain range that looks very artificial from any standpoint). Anyway you look at it, Saturn is a very strange place. |
| Posted by: LC FOTSGreg 2005-09-06 10:10 |
| #6 Has anyone checked the rings around Uranus? |
| Posted by: Chris W. 2005-09-06 09:32 |
| #5 a piece of the D ring has moved 125 miles inward toward Saturn Guess it's looking for one of the coveted spots in the E Ring. |
| Posted by: Mrs. Davis 2005-09-06 09:05 |
| #4 Celestial warming! Run for your lives! |
| Posted by: GK 2005-09-06 08:58 |
| #3 Among the most surprising findings is that parts of Saturn's innermost ring -- the D ring -- have grown dimmer since the Voyager spacecraft flew by the planet in 1981, and a piece of the D ring has moved 125 miles inward toward Saturn. Ooops. Couldn't be the old rock slide that begins with a few grains growing into a massive landslide could it? You just couldn't leave well enough alone. You had to go into the ring structure and upset an obviously delicate gravitationally balanced alignment. Scientist Destroy Natural Wonder!! Thank god there were no baby seals or caribou to hurt. Base upon this limited data point, I recommend an international treaty to ban all future explorations which involve probes of any kind entering alien space with limits of 10 million miles. Let's call it the Cassini Treaty in memory of the horrors created by exploitative scientists. |
| Posted by: Snaise Slaling6562 2005-09-06 08:43 |
| #2 worry not Stephen, We're gonna handle the warming thing at the next General Assembly for Saturn Ring fund drive. /next year Uranus, plz cool the damn thing off funds |
| Posted by: Kofi & fido 2005-09-06 01:22 |
| #1 It's obvious why rings are dimming...all together now...BUSH DIDN'T SIGN KYOTO! If Mars is going thru a warming spell and the dimming of Saturn's ring turns out to be because some of the ice in rings is melting... |
| Posted by: Stephen 2005-09-06 00:49 |