NASA Images Show Birth of a Saturn Moon
- 10 years ago
Experts have been keeping track of changes in Saturn’s rings using NASA’s Cassini orbiter. They noticed a bright feature in the A ring that measured 750 miles across, and it might be a gravitational disturbance caused by the birth of new baby moon.
Experts have been keeping track of changes in Saturn’s rings using NASA’s Cassini orbiter.
They noticed a bright feature in the A ring that measured 750 miles across, and it might be a gravitational disturbance caused by the birth of new baby moon.
Carl Murray, an astronomer from Queen Mary University in London, and lead author of the study has named the moon “Peggy,” after his mother-in-law who was celebrating her 80th birthday when he made the discovery.
In a report from NASA Science News, Murray is quoted as saying: "We have not seen anything like this before. We may be looking at the act of birth, where this object is just leaving the rings and heading off to be a moon in its own right."
Over time, Peggy might accumulate enough matter to become a larger moon and start it’s own orbital path around the ringed planet.
Another possibility is that the bright feature could be caused by matter breaking apart instead of something new forming, but further research is needed before this can be conclusively determined.
There are around 53 moons orbiting Saturn that have been observed and named by astronomers.
These moons are believed to have been formed from material in the rings, but now there is only enough matter left to make smaller baby moons like Peggy.
Experts have been keeping track of changes in Saturn’s rings using NASA’s Cassini orbiter.
They noticed a bright feature in the A ring that measured 750 miles across, and it might be a gravitational disturbance caused by the birth of new baby moon.
Carl Murray, an astronomer from Queen Mary University in London, and lead author of the study has named the moon “Peggy,” after his mother-in-law who was celebrating her 80th birthday when he made the discovery.
In a report from NASA Science News, Murray is quoted as saying: "We have not seen anything like this before. We may be looking at the act of birth, where this object is just leaving the rings and heading off to be a moon in its own right."
Over time, Peggy might accumulate enough matter to become a larger moon and start it’s own orbital path around the ringed planet.
Another possibility is that the bright feature could be caused by matter breaking apart instead of something new forming, but further research is needed before this can be conclusively determined.
There are around 53 moons orbiting Saturn that have been observed and named by astronomers.
These moons are believed to have been formed from material in the rings, but now there is only enough matter left to make smaller baby moons like Peggy.