Cassini-Huygens Mission News - SciTechDaily

Decoding Titan’s Hydrocarbon Seas: Cassini’s Latest Radar Revelations on Saturn’s Largest Moon

Cornell University — Sat, 20 Jul 2024 07:02:59 +0000

Researchers from Cornell University have utilized bistatic radar data from Cassini’s flybys of Titan to analyze the surface properties of its hydrocarbon seas. The study identifies variations in surface roughness and composition, suggesting diverse geological and meteorological processes at work. A new study of radar experiment data from the Cassini-Huygens mission to Saturn has yielded [...]

Unveiling Saturn’s Secrets: Eclipses Reveal Ring Transparency

Lancaster University — Tue, 14 Nov 2023 10:38:46 +0000

A Lancaster University PhD student has measured the optical depth of Saturn’s rings using a new method based on how much sunlight reached the Cassini spacecraft while it was in the shadow of the rings. The optical depth is connected to the transparency of an object, and it shows how far light can travel through [...]

Saturn’s Icy Moon Enceladus: Study Proves Existence of Key Element for Life in the Outer Solar System

Freie Universität Berlin — Sat, 01 Jul 2023 19:56:43 +0000

Researchers from Freie Universität Berlin have discovered phosphorus in the subsurface ocean of Saturn’s moon Enceladus. The search for extraterrestrial life in our solar system has just taken a giant leap forward. A team of researchers led by Professor Frank Postberg, a planetary scientist at Freie Universität Berlin, has discovered new evidence that the subsurface [...]

JPL and the Space Age: Triumph at Saturn – Part II (NASA Documentary)

NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory — Sun, 25 Jun 2023 07:56:52 +0000

With the Cassini spacecraft, built by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, safely in orbit around Saturn, science takes center stage, beginning with the dramatic descent of the European Space Agency’s Huygens probe to the surface of Saturn’s shrouded moon Titan. For some scientists, Titan has been a higher priority for exploration than even Saturn itself. That’s [...]

First Direct Evidence of Phosphorus – a Key Building Block of Life – on an Extraterrestrial Ocean World

University of Washington — Tue, 20 Jun 2023 03:25:16 +0000

Saturn’s moon Enceladus contains phosphates, a key building block of life, at levels significantly higher than Earth’s oceans, suggesting potential habitability, according to a study using NASA’s Cassini mission data. An international team including a University of Washington scientist has found that the water on one of Saturn’s moons harbors phosphates, a key building block [...]

JPL and the Space Age: Triumph at Saturn – Part I (NASA Documentary)

NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory — Sat, 17 Jun 2023 19:29:34 +0000

In 1997 an ambitious international mission, led by NASA’S Jet Propulsion Laboratory, launches to Saturn. The goal is to place a spacecraft around the planet and land the European Space Agency’s probe on a moon in the outer solar system, something never before attempted. But this is a mission that had to fight its way [...]

Building Block for Life Discovered in Enceladus’ Ocean by NASA’s Cassini Spacecraft

Jet Propulsion Laboratory — Fri, 16 Jun 2023 15:32:46 +0000

Phosphorus, a key chemical element for many biological processes, has been found in icy grains emitted by the small moon and is likely abundant in its subsurface ocean. Phosphorus, a vital element for life, has been discovered in icy grains emitted from Saturn’s moon, Enceladus, by NASA’s Cassini mission. This first-time discovery in an ocean [...]

Critical Ingredient for Life Discovered at Saturn’s Icy Moon Enceladus

Southwest Research Institute — Thu, 15 Jun 2023 08:30:34 +0000

Southwest Research Institute helped find evidence for phosphorus in the liquid water ocean beneath the moon’s icy surface. Researchers, using data from NASA’s Cassini mission, have discovered phosphorus in the form of phosphates, a critical component for life, in the subsurface ocean of Saturn’s moon Enceladus. The phosphorus concentration is at least 100 times higher [...]

NASA: Saturn’s Rings Are Young and Could Quickly Disappear

Abby Tabor and Aaron McKinnon, NASA's Ames Research Center — Thu, 25 May 2023 02:16:22 +0000

NASA’s Cassini mission data suggests that Saturn’s rings are young, possibly only a few hundred million years old, and could disappear in a similar timescale. The rings’ mass, purity, and debris accumulation rates indicate their relatively young age and short lifespan. Two studies show that the rings formed relatively recently and are rapidly losing mass, [...]

Possible Signs of Alien Life? Methane in the Plumes of Saturn’s Moon Enceladus

University of Arizona — Wed, 07 Jul 2021 13:22:42 +0000

A study published in Nature Astronomy concludes that known geochemical processes can’t explain the levels of methane measured by the Cassini spacecraft on Saturn’s icy moon. An unknown methane-producing process is likely at work in the hidden ocean beneath the icy shell of Saturn’s moon Enceladus, suggests a new study published in Nature Astronomy by [...]

Secrets of Saturn’s Largest Moon Titan Revealed by Impact Craters

Jet Propulsion Laboratory — Mon, 02 Nov 2020 11:42:44 +0000

New research on nine craters of Saturn’s largest moon provides more details about how weathering affects the evolution of the surface — and what lies beneath. Scientists have used data from NASA’s Cassini mission to delve into the impact craters on the surface of Titan, revealing more detail than ever before about how the craters [...]

Stunning New View of Saturn’s Moon Enceladus [Explore Interactively]

European Space Agency (ESA) — Fri, 25 Sep 2020 11:36:56 +0000

A global infrared mosaic of Saturn’s moon Enceladus created using a complete dataset from the Cassini spacecraft has revealed new detail on the moon’s surface. Cassini orbited Saturn and its moons from 2004 to 2017. The mission ended when the spacecraft was intentionally plunged into the planet’s atmosphere, but new discoveries are still being made [...]

Infrared Eyes on Enceladus: Hints of Fresh Ice in Northern Hemisphere of Saturn’s Moon

Jet Propulsion Laboratory — Sun, 20 Sep 2020 11:26:30 +0000

Scientists used data gathered by NASA’s Cassini spacecraft during 13 years of exploring the Saturn system to make detailed images of the icy moon — and to reveal geologic activity. New composite images made from NASA’s Cassini spacecraft are the most detailed global infrared views ever produced of Saturn’s moon Enceladus. And data used to [...]

NASA’s Surprising Discovery: Saturn’s Planet-Sized Moon Titan Drifting Away 100X Faster Than Thought

Jet Propulsion Laboratory — Mon, 08 Jun 2020 16:16:11 +0000

The new research by scientists at NASA and the Italian Space Agency has implications for the entire Saturn system as well as other planets and moons. Just as our own Moon floats away from Earth a tiny bit more each year, other moons are doing the same with their host planets. As a moon orbits, [...]

Most Extensive System of Haze Layers in the Solar System Have Been Discovered on Saturn

University of the Basque Country — Sun, 10 May 2020 22:33:24 +0000

High-resolution images obtained by the Cassini spacecraft were used for this purpose by the Planetary Science Group at the University of the Basque Country. A rich variety of meteorological phenomena take place in the extensive hydrogen atmosphere of the planet Saturn, a world about ten times the size of the Earth. They help us to [...]

Saturn’s Great Atmospheric Mystery Explained by New Data From NASA’s Cassini

Jet Propulsion Laboratory — Tue, 07 Apr 2020 03:44:34 +0000

New mapping of the giant planet’s upper atmosphere reveals likely reason why it’s so hot. The upper layers in the atmospheres of gas giants — Saturn, Jupiter, Uranus, and Neptune — are hot, just like Earth’s. But unlike Earth, the Sun is too far from these outer planets to account for the high temperatures. Their [...]

After 15 Years, Scientists Finally Solve Huygens Landing Spin Mystery

ESA (European Space Agency) — Thu, 16 Jan 2020 17:11:27 +0000

Fifteen years ago, ESA’s Huygens probe made history when it descended to the surface of Saturn’s moon Titan and became the first probe to successfully land on another world in the outer Solar System. However, during its descent, the probe began spinning the wrong way – and recent tests now reveal why. Launched in 1997, [...]

Strange Erupting ‘Tiger Stripes’ on Saturn’s Icy Moon Enceladus Finally Explained

University of California - Davis — Mon, 09 Dec 2019 16:57:01 +0000

Saturn’s tiny, frozen moon Enceladus is a strange place. Just 300 miles (480 kilometers) across, the moon is thought to have an outer shell of ice covering a global ocean 20 miles deep, encasing a rocky core. Slashed across Enceladus’ south pole are four straight, parallel fissures or “tiger stripes” from which water erupts. These [...]

First Global Geologic Map of Titan (Saturn’s Largest Moon) Completed

NASA — Mon, 18 Nov 2019 18:53:47 +0000

The first map showing the global geology of Saturn’s largest moon, Titan, has been completed and fully reveals a dynamic world of dunes, lakes, plains, craters, and other terrains. Titan is the only planetary body in our solar system other than Earth known to have stable liquid on its surface. But instead of water raining [...]

New Kinds of Organic Compounds Found in Plumes Bursting From Saturn’s Moon Enceladus

Gretchen McCartney, Jet Propulsion Laboratory — Wed, 02 Oct 2019 16:44:15 +0000

New kinds of organic compounds, the ingredients of amino acids, have been detected in the plumes bursting from Saturn’s moon Enceladus. The findings are the result of the ongoing deep dive into data from NASA’s Cassini mission. Powerful hydrothermal vents eject material from Enceladus’ core, which mixes with water from the moon’s massive subsurface ocean [...]

Surprise: Saturn’s Icy Rings May Actually Be As Old As the Solar System Itself

Southwest Research Institute — Wed, 18 Sep 2019 14:49:30 +0000

Research of Cassini data suggests icy rings are as old as the solar system itself. No one knows for certain when Saturn’s iconic rings formed, but a new study co-authored by a Southwest Research Institute scientist suggests that they are much older than some scientists think. The study takes a closer look at 2017 Cassini [...]

New Research Suggests Titan Lakes Are Explosion Craters

Gretchen McCartney, Jet Propulsion Laboratory — Mon, 09 Sep 2019 17:42:43 +0000

Using radar data from NASA’s Cassini spacecraft, recently published research presents a new scenario to explain why some methane-filled lakes on Saturn’s moon Titan are surrounded by steep rims that reach hundreds of feet high. The models suggest that explosions of warming nitrogen created basins in the moon’s crust. Titan is the only planetary body [...]

Cassini’s Final Flyby Reveals Surprises with Titan’s Lakes

Gretchen McCartney, Jet Propulsion Laboratory — Sat, 20 Apr 2019 01:33:10 +0000

On its final flyby of Saturn’s largest moon in 2017, NASA’s Cassini spacecraft gathered radar data revealing that the small liquid lakes in Titan’s northern hemisphere are surprisingly deep, perched atop hills and filled with methane. The new findings, published April 15 in the journal Nature Astronomy, are the first confirmation of just how deep [...]

New Findings Emerge About Tiny Moons Nestled In Saturn’s Rings

Gretchen McCartney, Jet Propulsion Laboratory — Sat, 30 Mar 2019 01:06:32 +0000

New findings have emerged about five tiny moons nestled in and near Saturn’s rings. The closest-ever flybys by NASA’s Cassini spacecraft reveal that the surfaces of these unusual moons are covered with material from the planet’s rings — and from icy particles blasting out of Saturn’s larger moon Enceladus. The work paints a picture of [...]