Iapetus Revealed
As I mentioned a few days ago, I’m incredibly excited about Cassini’s recently flyby of Saturn’s moon Iapetus. Passing only 1,200 km (800 miles) above the surface of the bizarre moon, the spacecraft has captured dozens of new images. Perhaps now planetary geologists can figure out what’s caused that amazing ridge, the walnut shape, and the bizarre light and dark hemispheres.
The moment the new Cassini images came in, Emily Lakdawalla from the Planetary Society jumped on them, and started analyzing. She was able to stitch together several images into a large mosaic that just looks amazing. Especially that ridge. What is up with that ridge?
There are some original raw images available from the flyby from NASA, but I highly recommend you check out Emily’s analysis while we wait for NASA’s official results.
Recent Posts
Flowing Martian Water was Protected by Sheets of Carbon Dioxide
Mars' ancient climate is one of our Solar System's most perplexing mysteries. The planet was…
Japan Launches the First Wooden Satellite to Space
Space debris, which consists of pieces of spent rocket stages, satellites, and other objects launched…
You Can Build a Home Radio Telescope to Detect Clouds of Hydrogen in the Milky Way
If I ask you to picture a radio telescope, you probably imagine a large dish…
A Space Walking Robot Could Build a Giant Telescope in Space
The Hubble Space Telescope was carried to space inside the space shuttle Discovery and then…
New Report Details What Happened to the Arecibo Observatory
In 1963, the Arecibo Observatory became operational on the island of Puerto Rico. Measuring 305…
We Understand Rotating Black Holes Even Less Than We Thought
The theory of black holes has several mathematical oddities. Recent research shows our understanding of…