Saturn's New Ring

[Whipsnade]

Gents,

A nice BBC article describing Saturn's new ring can be read here.

The presence and composition of the ring clears up some of the mysteries surrounding Saturn's moon Phoebe too.


Regards,
Bill

 

[Commander Truestar]

Gents,

A nice BBC article describing Saturn's new ring can be read here.

The presence and composition of the ring clears up some of the mysteries surrounding Saturn's moon Phoebe too.

Regards,
Bill

It's not new... >
It's been there for billions of years...

We were just not very observant...heheheheh

Marc 8-}

 

[dmccoy1693]

Ohhh that's cool!

 

[fiat_knox]

People designing the CGI of images of the Solar System are going to have to redraw it ... again.

Maybe while they're at it they can reinstate Pluto as a planet too.

 

[aramis]

People designing the CGI of images of the Solar System are going to have to redraw it ... again.

Maybe while they're at it they can reinstate Pluto as a planet too.

At which point they get to add another 15+ bodies as planets... o:

 

[Madarin Dude]

The rings are huge and I read about one of Saturn's moons that has one side a different color from the other that orbits within this new ring.

Aramis Well you have a point but Pluto does have its own moon so i can see it being reinstated as a planet on those grounds.

 

[aramis]

The rings are huge and I read about one of Saturn's moons that has one side a different color from the other that orbits within this new ring.

Aramis Well you have a point but Pluto does have its own moon so i can see it being reinstated as a planet on those grounds.

Xena (or whatever it got renamed) has 4!

 

[Madarin Dude]

OK well it can be a planet too or not. I see your point.

 

[FreeTrav]

Actiually, if I'm interpreting the BBC item about it correctly, the moon that is parti-colored is actually closer to Saturn than the E-ring is, but there IS a (different) moon that orbits within the E-ring (i.e., the inner edge of E is closer than this moon; the outer edge is farther). That moon - Iapetus/Japetus, IIRC - disturbs the particles of the E-ring, causing them to spiral in toward Saturn, and the parti-colored moon - Phoebe, IIRC (I may have swapped them) - runs into them 'like bugs on a windshield' to paraquote the Beeb.

 

[fiat_knox]

Xena (or whatever it got renamed) has 4!

Xena got renamed to Eris, goddess of Discord (and us Discordians), and Gabrielle (its largest satellite) renamed to Dysnomia (goddess of crime - I kid thee not!)

 

[fiat_knox]

At which point they get to add another 15+ bodies as planets... o:

I don't see any problem with that.

 

[far-trader]

Xena got renamed to Eris, goddess of Discord (and us Discordians), and Gabrielle (its largest satellite) renamed to Dysnomia (goddess of crime - I kid thee not!)

Oh great. Don't they know something like that is just going to attract the wrong kind of people. It won't be long before some Pirate makes that their base of operations for "commerce raids" and we find ourselves at war with some interstellar empire...

 

[fiat_knox]

Sounds like the premise for a really drecky pulp sf novel. And the title virtually writes itself: something like Jonah "Jock" Joxley and The Moon Of Crime ...