Free Republic 2nd Qtr 2026 Fundraising Target: $81,000 Receipts & Pledges to-date: $9,054
11%  
Woo hoo!! And we're now over 11%!! Thank you all for your continued support!!

Keyword: moonlet

Brevity: Headers | « Text »
  • Cassini Finds 'Missing Link' Moonlet Evidence in Saturn's Rings

    03/29/2006 8:18:01 PM PST · by NormsRevenge · 12 replies · 575+ views
    JPL/ NASA ^ | 3/29/06
    Scientists with NASA's Cassini mission have found evidence that a new class of small moonlets resides within Saturn's rings. There may be as many as 10 million of these objects within one of Saturn's rings alone. The moonlets' existence could help answer the question of whether Saturn's rings were formed through the break-up of a larger body or are the remnants of the disk of material from which Saturn and its moons formed. "These moonlets are likely to be chunks of the ancient body whose break-up produced Saturn's glorious rings," said Joseph Burns of Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y., a co-author...