Updates Cassini Mission News and Updates

[Nicholas Kang]

The latest JPL Von Karman Lecture series talks about "Planning Cassini's Grand Finale."

Very nice video! :thumbup:

 

[IronRain]

Saturn Moon Enceladus Is First Alien 'Water World' with Complex Organics

Complex organic molecules have been discovered for the first time coming from the depths of Saturn's moon Enceladus, a new study reported.

Spacecraft scheduled to launch soon could explore what this new discovery says about the chances of life within icy moons like Enceladus, the study's researchers said.

The sixth largest of Saturn's moons, Enceladus is only about 314 miles (505 kilometers) in diameter. This makes the moon small enough to fit inside the borders of Arizona. [Photos of Saturn's Icy Moon Enceladus]

In 2005, NASA's Cassini spacecraft detected plumes of water vapor and icy particles erupting from Enceladus, revealing the existence of a giant ocean hidden under the moon's frozen shell. Because there is life virtually wherever there is water on Earth, these findings suggested that life might also exist on Enceladus.

Previously, scientists had detected only simple organic (carbon-based) compounds, each less than about five carbon atoms in size, in the plumes of Enceladus. Now, researchers have detected complex organic molecules from the moon, including some at least 15 carbon atoms in size.

[...]

Source:
https://www.space.com/41005-saturn-moon-enceladus-complex-organic-molecules.html

 

[Nicholas Kang]

Listen: Sound of Electromagnetic Energy Moving Between Saturn, Enceladus

New research from NASA’s Cassini spacecraft’s up-close Grand Finale orbits shows a surprisingly powerful and dynamic interaction of plasma waves moving from Saturn to its rings and its moon Enceladus. The observations show for the first time that the waves travel on magnetic field lines connecting Saturn directly to Enceladus. The field lines are like an electrical circuit between the two bodies, with energy flowing back and forth.

Researchers converted the recording of plasma waves into a “whooshing” audio file that we can hear -- in the same way a radio translates electromagnetic waves into music. In other words, Cassini detected electromagnetic waves in the audio frequency range -- and on the ground, we can amplify and play those signals through a speaker. The recording time was compressed from 16 minutes to 28.5 seconds.

NASA’s Cassini spacecraft’s Grand Finale orbits found a powerful interaction of plasma waves moving from Saturn to its rings and its moon Enceladus.
Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech​

The interaction of Saturn and Enceladus is different from the relationship of Earth and its Moon. Enceladus is immersed in Saturn’s magnetic field and is geologically active, emitting plumes of water vapor that become ionized and fill the environment around Saturn. Our own Moon does not interact in the same way with Earth. Similar interactions take place between Saturn and its rings, as they are also very dynamic.

The recording was captured Sept. 2, 2017, two weeks before Cassini was deliberately plunged into the atmosphere of Saturn. The recording was converted by the RPWS team at the University of Iowa, led by physicist and RPWS Principal Investigator Bill Kurth.

The GRL research is available on the American Geophysical Union’s website:

https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1029/2018GL078130

https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1029/2018GL077875

Source: NASA

 

[Andy44]

In other words, Cassini detected electromagnetic waves in the audio frequency range

No, Cassini detected waves that had to be slowed down by a factor of five to get them into the audio range, according to the video (at 1:10).

We've seen this sort of thing before; Cassini, Galileo, and near-earth satellites have picked up radio waves from the magnetic fields of Saturn, Jupiter, and Earth, and then on the ground they are slowed down and processed as audio. The result is always this creepy 1950's sci fi sound effect that is awesome.

 

[mahdavi3d]

Space.com Image of the Day
Earth and the Moon Photobomb Saturn's Rings

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SSI/CICLOPS/Kevin M. Gill/Flickr​

Earth and the moon play "peekaboo" behind Saturn's rings in this image from NASA's Cassini spacecraft. Citizen scientist Kevin Gill processed the image using data collected on April 13, 2017, about five months before the mission ended with a crash-dive into Saturn. — Hanneke Weitering

 

[Notebook]

04 September 2018
The long-lived international Cassini mission has revealed a surprising feature emerging at Saturn's northern pole as it nears summertime: a warming, high-altitude vortex with a hexagonal shape, akin to the famous hexagon seen deeper down in Saturn's clouds. This suggests that the lower-altitude hexagon may influence what happens up above, and that it could be a towering structure spanning hundreds of kilometres in height.

http://sci.esa.int/cassini-huygens/60589-saturn-s-famous-hexagon-may-tower-above-the-clouds/

 

[Urwumpe]

Cassini had spotted dust storms on Titan, making it the third body in the solar system with dust storms.

http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/S...n_Titan_spotted_by_Cassini_for_the_first_time

 

[Notebook]

Title Saturn at equinox
Released 18/03/2019 9:00 am
Copyright NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute
Description
Saturn is famous for its bright, glorious rings but in this picture, taken during Saturn's 2009 equinox, the rings are cast in a different light as sunlight hits the rings edge-on.
The equinox is a point in a planet's orbit where the Sun shines directly overhead at the equator. It occurs twice per orbit and on Earth it happens in March and September. At the equinox, day and night are almost equal and the Sun rises due east and sets due west. This year, for northern hemisphere dwellers, the spring equinox occurs on 20 March.
Further afield, the international Cassini mission captured a Saturnian equinox for the first time on 12 August 2009. Saturn's equinoxes occur approximately every 15 Earth years and the next one will take place on 6 May 2025.

http://www.esa.int/spaceinimages/Images/2019/03/Saturn_at_equinox

 

[Notebook]

The first map of the global geology of Saturn's largest moon, Titan, has been completed, revealing a dynamic world with dunes, lakes, plains, craters and other terrains. The map is based on data from the international Cassini mission, which performed more than 120 flybys of Titan during its time at the Saturn system, between 2004 and 2017.

http://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Images/2019/11/Global_geologic_map_of_Titan

 

[Notebook]

Huygens landing spin mystery solved

http://www.esa.int/Science_Explorat...i-Huygens/Huygens_landing_spin_mystery_solved

Not sure what the wind-tunnel video shows, unless I've missed something?

 

[kcjohnson55]

I am a new member to this forum so please excuse if this is the wrong place to post, however...........I am an infrequent viewer of the night sky but I HAVE NEVER SEEN A PROCESSION OF SATELLITES LIKE I JUST WITNESSED. Ilive in Central Oregon and I just saw 18 satellites traveling west to east in a span of 5-10 minutes all traveling in the same direction and most were equidistant from each other and at about 60 degrees elevation to the south. Is this normal? Maybe I am just out of touch and haven't looked up at night lately, but I remember when I had to search for satellites. We used to play games as to who could find the first satellite. This was unbelievable!

 

[Notebook]

A global infrared mosaic of Saturn’s moon Enceladus created using a complete dataset from the Cassini spacecraft has revealed new detail on the moon’s surface.

A new view of Enceladus

A new view of Enceladus

www.esa.int