We live in interesting times, which are often more tragic than boring ones. It’s not all gloom and doom—we live at a time when the James Webb Space Telescope has just come online, and it could explore distant corners of the cosmos for another 20 years. NASA has also used …
Read More »Stealth Subsurface Ocean?
On Earth, water is the key to all life, but there doesn’t seem to be much of it on other planets… at least at first glance. As we explore more of our solar system, water has been appearing in some surprising places. We now know Mars is not entirely bone …
Read More »NASA’s Dragonfly Mission
NASA’s Dragonfly mission will send a rotorcraft lander to the surface of Titan in the mid-2030s. Dragonfly was officially selected for flight by NASA as the fourth New Frontiers mission on 2019 June 27. Launch is planned for 2027, with Titan arrival in the mid-2030s, during the local northern hemisphere …
Read More »Jupiter and Saturn
Jupiter and Saturn, our solar system’s two largest worlds, have been drawing ever closer to each other in the sky in recent months as seen from our Earthly vantage, an event that has come to be known as a great conjunction. The two planets will appear closest together on …
Read More »Faster Than Expected
Titan Is Moving Away From Saturn 100 Times Faster Than Expected Cassini’s mission to Saturn may have ended years ago, but scientists analyzing the data sent back by the probe continue to draw new insights about the sixth planet from the sun and its system of moons. We now know …
Read More »Titan Migrates From Saturn
Faster than Previously Thought Saturn is orbited by 82 moons, and tidal friction within the giant planet causes the moons to migrate outwards. In a study published this week in the journal Nature Astronomy, researchers used two independent measurements obtained with NASA’s Cassini spacecraft to measure Titan’s orbital expansion rate. …
Read More »Dust-Free Region between Saturn and Its Rings Puzzles Cassini Scientists
On April 26, 2017, NASA’s Cassini orbiter made its first ‘Grand Finale’ dive through the previously unexplored gap between Saturn and its rings. An analysis of data collected by Cassini’s Radio and Plasma Wave Science (RPWS) instrument shows that this dive was nearly particle free. The unexpected finding that the …
Read More »Cassini’s First Grand Finale Images of Saturn Are In, and They’re Stunning
NASA’s Cassini spacecraft has been observing Saturn since 2004, but mission control has been careful not to get too close to the ringed planet for fear of damaging the probe. Now, Cassini is nearly out of fuel, and it’s time to take some risks. Cassini began altering its trajectory early …
Read More »Cassini spacecraft’s grand finale at Saturn depicted in Google doodle
Today, the Cassini Spacecraft is going where no spacecraft has gone before — on a dive in between Saturn’s rings to take photos and collect data. Google is celebrating this historic mission with an animated Google doodle, a special logo, to grab people’s attention. The doodle shows a cartoon spacecraft …
Read More »New Cassini Image Shows Earth and Moon between Saturn’s Rings
This view from NASA’s Cassini orbiter shows Earth and its only natural satellite as points of light between the icy rings of the gas giant Saturn. Cassini captured this view of Earth and the Moon on April 12. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / Space Science Institute. Cassini captured this …
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