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Strange New Objects Seen In Saturn's Rings
Every 15 Earth years, Saturn has its equinox — the time during which its rotational axis is perpendicular to the rays from the sun, so that the sun is always directly "overhead" of Saturn's equator. This is significant because Saturn's rings orbit over the equator, so during the equinox, light from the sun hits them edge-on. This means that any objects wider than the rings, or orbiting above or below them, cast long shadows and are much easier to see. For the first time, we're able to get detailed images of these objects, thanks to Cassini. A moonlet, perhaps 1,300 feet in diameter, has been discovered in the B-ring, and the Bad Astronomy blog points out another object that seems to be bursting through the F-ring. Quoting: "The upward-angled structure is definitely real, as witnessed by the shadow it's casting on the ring material to the lower left. And what's with the bright patch right where this object seems to have slammed into the rings? Did it shatter millions of icy particles, revealing their shinier interior material, making them brighter? Clearly, something awesome and amazing happened here.
A moonlet, perhaps 1,300 feet in diameter
Can we have that in perches, chains and furlongs please?
--A. Luddite
It's a budong.
If you don't know what caused it by now, go watch the new Star Trek movie already. It's actually good.
If you can read this, I forgot to post anonymously.
That's just a Goa'uld mothership approaching Earth. No need for alarm at all.
Sigs are too short to say anything truly profound so read the above post instead.
Just let me know if they spot a ring that looks like it's been braided.
Build a man a fire, he's warm for one night. Set him on fire, and he's warm for the rest of his life.
Cassini sees its own shadow.
The Thuktun Flishithy has arrived. We have about 20 years until the attack. Better start building Michael right now
PS: Don't get it? Read some Larry Niven.
Could this be one of the few threads where the Goatse guy is on-topic? After all, numerous strange objects have been seen in his ring.
I write bullshit
Saturn has always been the least hygienic of the gas giants.
I swear to God...I swear to God! That is NOT how you treat your human!
Why has no-one tagged this "ufo"? Is in Unidentified Flying Object? It would make me tingly on the inside with space dust if someone does.
Once you start despising the jerks, you become one.