1. Saturn Watch.
- Author
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Cowen, Ron
- Subjects
- *
SATURN exploration , *NATURAL satellites , *SPACE flight to Saturn , *SATURN (Planet) , *KUIPER belt , *COMETS , *SPACE photography , *SPACE exploration - Abstract
The article reports that an analysis of images taken by the Cassini spacecraft in early June 2004, several weeks before the craft settled into orbit about Saturn, has revealed two tiny moons orbiting the ringed planet. The newly detected moons, each of which takes about a day to orbit Saturn, lie between the paths of two larger satellites, Mimas and Enceladus. The moons provide new evidence that the Kuiper belt, a reservoir of icy bodies at the solar system's outer edge, might not have quite as many small, house-size comets as planetary scientists have assumed.
- Published
- 2004
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