7/3/2004: Rings of Saturn

Undertoad · 07-03-2004, 12:51 PM

Elspode points out the beautiful Saturn rings images sent
back by Cassini. This large IotD is warranted by the fact
that it has almost no color and so compressed down very
nicely, viewable for modem users.

The full story says maybe the rings are a broken-up moon,
and maybe there was a recent collision between the rings and
something with oxygen:

Quote:

One early result intriguing scientists concerns Saturn's Cassini
Division, the large gap between the A and B rings. While Saturn's
rings are almost exclusively composed of water ice, new findings show
the Cassini Division contains relatively more "dirt" than ice. Further,
the particles between the rings seem remarkably similar to the dark
material that scientists saw on Saturn's moon, Phoebe. These dark
particles refuel the theory that the rings might be the remnants of a
moon. The F ring was also found to contain more dirt.

Another instrument on Cassini has detected large quantities of oxygen at
the edge of the rings. Scientists are still trying to understand these results,
but they think the oxygen may be left over from a collision that occurred as
recently as January of this year.

"In just two days, our ideas about the rings have been expanded
tremendously," said Dr. Linda Spilker, of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory,
Pasadena, Calif., deputy project scientist for the Cassini-Huygens
mission. "The Phoebe-like material is a big surprise. What puzzles us
is that the A and B rings are so clean and the Cassini Division between
them appears so dirty."

xoxoxoBruce · 07-03-2004, 02:12 PM

Quote:

rings are almost exclusively composed of water ice

Seems to me, that would be the likely source of the oxygen they detected at the edge.

lookout123 · 07-03-2004, 04:13 PM

saturn, schmaturn - that's my mother's dinner plate magnified.

Elspode · 07-03-2004, 05:41 PM

Rather looks like the Warner Brothers shield to me...

xoxoxoBruce · 07-03-2004, 09:56 PM

Your going to have to explain that one to me, Els?????

Nothing But Net · 07-03-2004, 10:06 PM

I'm particularly unimpressed.

Stuff from the Hubble puts this to shame.

xoxoxoBruce · 07-03-2004, 10:57 PM

But the Hubble (genuflect) doesn't give us that little bitty detail or oxygen readings and wind details.

Nothing But Net · 07-03-2004, 11:44 PM

Cool pic ... <b>bruce</b>!!!

How would you like to surf the wave on Saturn's ring?

wolf · 07-04-2004, 01:51 AM

I remember many years ago sitting in an auditorium at my college waiting as the live pics were coming in from V-ger ... amazing stuff. This brought back the moment.

Thanks.

Beestie · 07-04-2004, 02:00 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by wolf I remember many years ago sitting in an auditorium at my college waiting as the live pics were coming in from V-ger ... amazing stuff. This brought back the moment.

Thanks.

Very cool. I heard something interesting about Voyager the other day. Apparently, at its present speed (it recently sped past the outer orbit of Pluto) it will not be completely free of the Sun's gravity for.....

take a wild guess

....

forty-four thousand years. Whoa. The furthest reach of the Sun's gravity is one definition of the edge of the Solar System (Pluto's orbit being another).

wolf · 07-04-2004, 02:16 AM

It better hurry up and fall in that wormhole soon, then ...

Elspode · 07-04-2004, 10:24 AM

Ah...I'm a moron. I referenced incorrectly:

Nothing But Net · 07-04-2004, 01:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Beestie

The furthest reach of the Sun's gravity is one definition of the edge of the Solar System (Pluto's orbit being another).

Or Sedna?

YellowBolt · 07-05-2004, 05:31 PM

Sedna is overrated.

I want to see nice and sexy COLOR pictures soon.

Yellow #5 · 07-06-2004, 09:36 AM

That is a seriously dusty CD, and there is a pretty nasty pit and a scratch in track 7.

07-03-2004, 04:13 PM	#3
lookout123 changed his status to single Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Right behind you. No, the other side. Posts: 10,308	saturn, schmaturn - that's my mother's dinner plate magnified. __________________ Getting knocked down is no sin, it's not getting back up that's the sin

07-03-2004, 05:41 PM	#4
Elspode When Do I Get Virtual Unreality? Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Raytown, Missouri Posts: 12,719	Rather looks like the Warner Brothers shield to me... __________________ "To those of you who are wearing ties, I think my dad would appreciate it if you took them off." - Robert Moog

07-03-2004, 10:57 PM	#7
xoxoxoBruce The future is unwritten Join Date: Oct 2002 Posts: 71,105	But the Hubble (genuflect) doesn't give us that little bitty detail or oxygen readings and wind details. __________________ The descent of man ~ Nixon, Friedman, Reagan, Trump. Last edited by xoxoxoBruce; 04-07-2007 at 06:01 PM.

07-04-2004, 01:51 AM	#9
wolf lobber of scimitars Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Phila Burbs Posts: 20,774	I remember many years ago sitting in an auditorium at my college waiting as the live pics were coming in from V-ger ... amazing stuff. This brought back the moment. Thanks. __________________ wolf eht htiw og "Conspiracies are the norm, not the exception." --G. Edward Griffin The Creature from Jekyll Island High Priestess of the Church of the Whale Penis

07-04-2004, 02:16 AM	#11
wolf lobber of scimitars Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Phila Burbs Posts: 20,774	It better hurry up and fall in that wormhole soon, then ... __________________ wolf eht htiw og "Conspiracies are the norm, not the exception." --G. Edward Griffin The Creature from Jekyll Island High Priestess of the Church of the Whale Penis

07-03-2004, 09:56 PM	#5
xoxoxoBruce The future is unwritten Join Date: Oct 2002 Posts: 71,105	Your going to have to explain that one to me, Els????? __________________ The descent of man ~ Nixon, Friedman, Reagan, Trump. Last edited by xoxoxoBruce; 04-07-2007 at 06:01 PM.

07-03-2004, 10:06 PM	#6
Nothing But Net Professor Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: Spring, Texas Posts: 1,481	I'm particularly unimpressed. Stuff from the Hubble puts this to shame.

07-03-2004, 11:44 PM	#8
Nothing But Net Professor Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: Spring, Texas Posts: 1,481	Cool pic ... <b>bruce</b>!!! How would you like to surf the wave on Saturn's ring?

07-04-2004, 10:24 AM	#12
Elspode When Do I Get Virtual Unreality? Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Raytown, Missouri Posts: 12,719	Ah...I'm a moron. I referenced incorrectly: Attached Images __________________ "To those of you who are wearing ties, I think my dad would appreciate it if you took them off." - Robert Moog

07-05-2004, 05:31 PM	#14
YellowBolt I lurk with the best of them Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: not close to philadelphia. :( well, not THAT close. Posts: 146	Sedna is overrated. I want to see nice and sexy COLOR pictures soon.

07-06-2004, 09:36 AM	#15
Yellow #5 Lead Subordinate Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Iowa Posts: 15	That is a seriously dusty CD, and there is a pretty nasty pit and a scratch in track 7.

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