Saturn's spiral.Saturn Saturn, in astronomy Saturn, in astronomy, 6th planet from the sun. Astronomical and Physical Characteristics of Saturn Saturn's orbit lies between those of Jupiter and Uranus; its mean distance from the sun is c.886 million mi (1. has long been known for its jumbo rings. Scientists now say that one of those bands isn't a ring at all. Due to its wiggly shape, the F-ring--one of the planet's seven bands of densely packed ice, dust, and rock--has always been an oddball. Images recently collected by NASA's Cassini spacecraft spacecraft Vehicle designed to operate, with or without a crew, in a controlled flight pattern above Earth's lower atmosphere. Since streamlining is not needed in the high vacuum of this environment, a spacecraft's shape is designed according to its mission (see reveal another unusual feature: Instead of forming a single circle like Saturn's other rings, the F-ring is a spiraling structure that wraps around the planet several times. What's more, the swirling band of dust is slowly winding tighter around Saturn. "Nothing like this has ever been seen," says Mark Showalter, an astronomer at the SETI SETI (sĕt`ē) [Search for ExtraTerrestrial Intelligence], name given to a series of independent programs to detect radio signals from civilizations beyond the solar system. Institute in California California (kăl'ĭfôr`nyə), most populous state in the United States, located in the Far West; bordered by Oregon (N), Nevada and, across the Colorado River, Arizona (E), Mexico (S), and the Pacific Ocean (W). . |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion