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Cassini Spots Another New Tiny Saturn Moon
Pasadena CA (SPX) Jul 13, 2006 This magnified view shows tiny Polydeuces, a moon discovered by NASA's Cassini spacecraft last month, is a mere 3 kilometers (2 miles) across. Along with much larger Helene (32 kilometers, or 20 miles across), Polydeuces orbits Saturn at the same distance as large, icy Dione (1,126 kilometers, or 700 miles across). Because this body was only recently discovered and is so small, scientists know precious little about it. Further observations by Cassini may yield additional insights about its nature and composition, said mission controllers at Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Cassini took the image May 22 with its narrow-angle camera at a distance of approximately 73,000 kilometers (45,000 miles) from Polydeuces and at a Sun-Polydeuces-spacecraft, or phase, angle of 41 degrees. Cassini obtained the image using a spectral filter sensitive to wavelengths of infrared light centered at 752 nanometers. Scale in the original image was 434 meters (1,423 feet) per pixel, but mission scientists magnified it by a factor of four and applied contrast enhancements to aid its visibility. Community Email This Article Comment On This Article Related Links Cassiniat JPL Cassini images Explore The Ring World of Saturn and her moons Jupiter and its Moons The million outer planets of a star called Sol News Flash at Mercury
Cassini Shines At Mission Halfway Point
Pasadena CA (SPX) Jun 28, 2006This Friday, June 30, NASA's Cassini spacecraft will reach the official halfway mark in its four-year mission to the Saturnian system, and already it has provided scientists with unprecedented views of the ringed planet and its nearly three dozen moons. |
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