Spectacular Saturn: Images from the Cassini-Huygens Mission Part III: Moons of Saturn

1
Spectacular SaturnImages from the
Cassini-Huygens MissionPart III Moons of Saturn

• A virtual exhibit based on exhibitions at the
  American Museum of Natural History and the
  Cornell University Johnson Museum of Art

2
Moons of Ice

• Some 4.5 billion years ago, the planet Saturn
  formed in a disk of gas and dust orbiting the
  young Sun. At the same time, Saturns major moons
  took shape in a similar, smaller disk around the
  planet. These moons are all made primarily of the
  same materialwater in the form of solid ice,
  mixed with some rock. Most also have circular
  orbits in Saturns equatorial plane and move in
  the same direction as Saturn rotates. Together
  Saturns moons resemble a miniature planetary
  system, and scientists study them to learn how
  such systems form.

3
Moons of Ice

• Images from Cassini reveal thatdespite their
  similaritiesSaturns moons are very different
  from one another. Cliffs, craters, mountains,
  valleys and rare patches of dark debris mark
  their icy faces. Of the five moons featured here,
  one is unlike the others. Phoebe, the most
  far-flung moon, orbits in the opposite direction.
  Scientists think Phoebe is a remnant of planet
  formation in the early solar system, snared in
  the outer reaches of Saturns gravity.

4
Iapetus Full Moon
5
Yin and Yang Light Side of Iapetus with Inky
Stains
6
Yin and Yang The Voyager Mountains on the Dark
Side of Iapetus
7
Iapetus Lofty Peaks
8
Iapetus Mountain View
9
Dione
10
Dione Ice Cliffs and Craters
11
Dione, Detailed
12
Tethys Crescent
13
Tethys Surface Detail
14
Hyperions False Color
15
Hyperion Crescent
16
Phoebe
17
Titan and Enceladus

• With few exceptions, Saturns moons are
  unimaginably cold and, over their billions of
  years in orbit, impacts have left them covered
  with craters. Balmy and crater-free by
  comparison, the two active moons Titan and
  Enceladus have surfaces shaped by internal heat.
  Even more startling, both of these moons have the
  ingredients for life a brew of organic
  molecules, water and sources of energy.

18
Enceladus

• Enceladus orbits in the core of Saturns
  outermost ring the diaphanous E ring
• Enceladus is a relatively small moon, only 500 km
  (300 miles) in diameter
• On Enceladus, spectacular geysers of water vapor
  shoot from vents at its south pole.
• Oddly formed and deformed, the surface of
  Enceladus is young in planetary terms only tens
  of millions of years old

19
Enceladus Within the E Ring
20
Geyser of Ice on Enceladus
21
Enceladus, Southern Hemisphere
22
Enceladus
23
Geysers of Enceladus
24
Titan

• Titan is Saturns largest moon
• Unique among moons in our Solar System, Titan has
  a dense atmosphere
• Weather systems rain liquid methane onto the moon
  and erode its surface.
• In fact, scientists think that conditions on
  Titan, with its dense, nitrogen-rich atmosphere,
  resemble the environment of primordial Earth,
  although Titan is much, much colder (-180 C
  -290 F)
• Titans surface looks eerily Earth-like as
  wellphotographs taken as the Huygens probe
  parachuted to the moons surface in 2005 revealed
  a landscape of rivers and lakes.

25
Touchdown on Titan
26
Titan Three Views
27
Titans Atmosphere
28
Titan A Unique Climate
29
Titan Cutting Through the Fog
30
Titans Smog
31
Titans surface
32
Titans Lakes
33
For more information

• For the latest news of Cassinis scientific
  findings http//saturn.jpl.nasa.gov
• For educational materials http//saturn.jpl.nasa.
  gov/education and http//astro.cornell.edu/outreac
  h
• For unprocessed (raw) images as they come from
  the spacecraft (six new moons have been
  discovered by amateurs looking at raw images)
  http//saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/multimeida/images/raw/r
  aw-images-list1.html
• The Cassini imaging team posts its most
  beautiful/interesting images at
  http//ciclops.org (you can vote for your
  favorite)
• For a selection of the best space photos,
  including many in this exhibit
  http//photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov
• The exhibit at the Johnson Museum at Cornell is
  derived from a slightly larger exhibit at the
  American Museum of Natural History in New York
  City www.amnh.org/exhibitions/photo/saturn
• Information about the results of the Huygens
  lander http//www.esa.int
• Every morning find a fresh astronomical photo at
  http//apod.nasa.gov
• The Johnson Museum of Art http//www.museum.corne
  ll.edu/
• The Cornell Center for Radiophysics Space
  Research Education Public Outreach Program
  http//www.astro.cornell.edu/outreach/