Thursday, May 12, 2005

See the Waves in Saturn's Ring

Image:Cassini under construction; Cassini detailed; Keeler Gap
Info: Cassini doomed? No.; ESA Cassini image bank

Something cool is happening within the rings of Saturn: A previously unknown moon, orbiting in an area between rings called the Keeler Gap is causing the tiny bits of debris in adjacent rings to ripple, like waves on the water.
I'm sure there is some fantastic scientific knowledge to be gained from this information, but I'm more excited about how cool it looks!
Here's a movie from NASA. If you watch the top of the large white band at the bottom of the image, you will notice a small white dot cruising along, casting out waves as it goes; making the top of the white band ripple ever so slightly. There's a close-up view on the SpaceDaily.com story here.
Pretty cool, huh?

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