Posted on 07/02/2011 5:54:14 PM PDT by Windflier
Saturn's small moon Helene shines like a regal ice queen in a dazzling new photo from NASA's Cassini spacecraft.
Cassini photographed the icy Helene on June 18 during a close flyby of the frigid world. At one point, Cassini zoomed to within 4,330 miles (6,968 kilometers) of Helene — the second-closest approach to the moon of the entire mission, researchers said.
Helene is an irregularly shaped world 22 miles (35 kilometers) wide. It orbits Saturn at an average distance of about 234,500 miles (377,000 km), roughly the same distance that separates Earth from our own moon. NASA officials called the moon Saturn's "ice queen" when releasing the new photo. [More Saturn moon and ring photos]
I know. I've already done the facepalm boogie ;-)
Unlike the moons circling other planets, in our solar system, our moon doesn't enjoy a distinctive name of its own.
It is simply referred to as 'The Moon' or sometimes 'lunar' (derived from the Latin Luna).
STE=Q
Luna - from where we get the term Lunatic -
World?
22 miles wide?
Its an icy rock for Pete’s sake.
World?....lol
Oh, Duh on me! Hence the term ‘Lunatic,’ right? Crazy from howling at the Moon and all that?
For someone that gazes at the sky for no apparent reason whatsoever, day OR night - I’m really quite uninformed, LOL!
(I’m excited when I find the Big Dipper and the Little Dipper in the same night - and I know who Orion is...and that’s about it!)
Ah, yes, the constellation of O’Ryan. Holding up a pint of MacEwans in each arm!
It appears that even science reporters are given to hyperbole, eh?
The Lunarians are gonna get you for that. Moonies are people too, you mean old right-wing conservative!
Alright.....that made me step outside and howl at the moon. Hoo boy!
The earth and moon are really more of a dual planet system anyway.
What are the names of the earth, moon, sun, and solar system?
All the other planets (Mercury, Venus, Mars, etc.) have names. What’s the Earth’s name? The other moons in the solar system have names too (Phobos, Io, Titan, etc.). What’s our moon’s name? Our galaxy has a name: the Milky Way. So what’s the name of our solar system?
The name of our planet is the Earth. The name of our moon is the Moon. The name of our solar system is the Solar System.
Notice that I capitalize them, because when used as names, they are proper nouns. This also helps us distinguish between the planet Earth and earth (meaning soil), between the Earth’s Moon and moon (meaning the natural satellite of a planet), and between our Solar System and any other solar systems (since any system containing a star and a planet or a planet-forming disk can be called a solar system.)
This is the English language usage approved by the International Astronomical Union, the body in charge of naming celestial objects. It may seem odd that these important objects don’t have names, but if you think about it, it just reinforces their importance. For example, the Moon is the Moon, not just any moon. It requires no other name, because it’s the most important moon!
You may read or hear people using Luna for the Moon, or Terra or Gaia for the Earth, or Sol for the Sun, but in English-speaking countries, these are poetic terms, often seen in science fiction stories, but not used by astronomers in scientific writing. In some countries where Romance languages are spoken, these terms are the official names.
http://curious.astro.cornell.edu/question.php?number=289
If you jumped on an object of this size, you would launch yourself into space.
If you were standing, carefully, on it's surface and thru a golfball just so, you could likely put the golfball into orbit. (Actually, considering it's non-sphyrical shape, it might be kind of tough).
Ping-a-ling.
Still a very cool picture all the same.
Re: How could a moon this small have ICE on it?
Has solar electric generators to run the ice-making machnes.
THe EPA fucks up everything, doesn’t it?
It’s very cool, but I still can’t get past Saturn’s hexagonal north pole:
http://videosonar.com/1/video/hexagon/yt-qzL194jiTyY.html
Saturn's hexagonal north pole has got to be the most inexplicable thing in our solar system. That is something that I simply cannot wrap my head around. It's a complete enigma to me.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.