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Prometheus Caught Stealing From Saturn's Rings

Posted by timothy on from the restitution-might-be-tough dept.

merryprankster writes "Saturn's Moon Prometheus is living up to the reputation of its Greek namesake. New Scientist is reporting that the latest images from the Cassini probe show the moon "stealing" material for Saturn's F-ring. Evidence of this had been seen by Cassini in the past in the form of "streamers" and gravitation wobbles within the rings but more fantastic images have now caught the thief in the act."

11 of 35 comments (clear)

  1. Hey....it's all mythological-like.... by KublaiKhan · · Score: 4, Informative

    Except that the last time Prometheus stole something, didn't he get chained to a rock with an eagle ripping out his liver?

    Some people never learn...

    --
    In Xanadu did Kubla Khan
    A stately pleasure dome decree
    1. Re:Hey....it's all mythological-like.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      Yes, it's all fun and games until someone gets their liver eaten by an eagle.

    2. Re:Hey....it's all mythological-like.... by Carnivore · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Well, I don't know how many pictures we'll get, but the following calculation is enlightening.

      I found all numbers from Google, so they are approximate. The order of magnitude should remain the same, though.

      NASA budget: $15 billion
      Federal budget: $3350.779 billion

      Percentage of NASA budget to the Federal budget:
      0.447%

      Half a percent.

      So if we assume that you make $60k, and you have $4k of federal tax (wild-ass guess based on my much smaller salary), then you pay $17 a year for ALL of NASA.

      I'd say that that's a pretty damn good deal, myself.

  2. Ring-stealing Theif! by the+darn · · Score: 5, Funny

    Fithly Greek Godses! They steals our preciousss orbital debris...

    --
    Ceci n'est pas un post.
  3. Re:Moonlet? by CheshireCatCO · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Well, for one thing, an asteroid is a rocky/metallic body that orbits the Sun, not a planet. Moons can be made of anything and orbit planets (major or minor).

    I'm dubious of a definition of "moon" that allows for artifical satellites, by the way. While the use of the word "moon" is somewhat debated in astronomical circles (there are those who claim that it should only apply to the Moon), I don't know that anyone thinks that it should include artifical satellites.

  4. Gravity by mknewman · · Score: 5, Funny

    Gravity sucks, doesn't it?

  5. Re:Moonlet? by dpilot · · Score: 2, Funny

    We're being pulled toward that small moon.
    That's not a moon, that's a spaceship!

    (as long as this topic is on the same day as another "Star Wars: The Phantom Edit" discussion.)

    --
    The living have better things to do than to continue hating the dead.
  6. Re:Moonlet? by CheshireCatCO · · Score: 2, Informative

    What, Mars's moons? No. They're big enough to be moons.

    A moonlet is of order 10 km is diameter, typically. Actually, I don't think we've actually seen any to date. (Well, not conclusively.) In reality, the term is sort of slang anyway. Either you're a moon or you aren't. (Ring particles, dust, etc. are too small to be moons. Bigger, natural things orbiting planets... moons.)

  7. Re:Moonlet? by CheshireCatCO · · Score: 2, Informative

    Eccentricity isn't a player in moon-ness. It can tell you something about the origin of the moon in question (a large eccentricity, along with a high inclination and a retrograde orbit, is symptomatic of a captured body), but the distinction is bascially: does the object orbit a planet and is it bigger than some minimum size. (Probably in the region of kilometers or tens of kilometers. Opinions will vary about where to draw the line.)

  8. Copyright! by Daagar · · Score: 5, Funny

    It's not stealing, it's copyright infringement. How many times must we go over this. Oh, wait...

  9. Full-size image by Fortran+IV · · Score: 3, Informative

    Here's the original image from NASA's collection of raw images. A related image is here.

    --
    I figure by 2030 or so my 6-digit UID will be something to brag about.