Daphnis and the Rings of Saturn
Explanation:
What's happening to the rings of Saturn?
Nothing much, just a little moon making waves.
The moon is 8-kilometer
Daphnis
and it is making waves in the
Keeler Gap of
Saturn's rings
using just its gravity -- as it
bobs up and down, in and
out.
The
featured image
is a wide-field version of a
previously released image taken last month by the robotic
Cassini spacecraft
during one of its new
Grand Finale
orbits.
Daphnis can be seen on the far right,
sporting ridges likely accumulated from
ring particles.
Daphnis
was discovered in Cassini images in 2005 and
raised mounds of ring particles so high in 2009 -- during
Saturn's equinox
when the ring plane pointed directly at the Sun -- that they
cast notable shadows.
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
