Monthly Archives: March 2007

hst news, hubble space telescope, saturn

Lord of the Rings

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I spent last weekend in Middle Earth. More correctly, I spent the weekend watching the extended DVD editions of the Lord of the Rings trilogy of movies, something I’ve been wanting to do since I got the set for Christmas. Great movies, lots of action and beautiful scenery and incredible CG work on the battle scenes. I was in hog heaven.

Saturn, courtesy Hubble Space Telescope and Space Telescope Science Institute.
Saturn, courtesy Hubble Space Telescope and Space Telescope Science Institute.

Today I got to check out another Lord of the Rings—the great and beauteous planet Saturn. Thanks to Hubble Space Telescope, it’s now a movie star. Today the Space Telescope Science Institute released its own set of movies about Saturn, all based on images taken by HST over the past few years. They show ring plane crossing, some of the Moons, and some atmospheric features as the planet spins on its axis.

Astronomers took dozens of images of Saturn over the years, using the Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 and the Advanced Camera for Surveys. These images were strung together and animated to give us these three wonderful videos.

The best part about this ongoing survey of Saturn is that it shows us the planet changing over time, at least in the atmosphere. It gives us all a chance to see Saturn’s rings in different orientations as it (and we) orbit the Sun and our changing positions change our point of view. Go check ’em out and collect the set!

cassini, cassini mission

From Sea to Methane Sea

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Titan Sea compared to Lake Superior on Earth
Titan Sea compared to Lake Superior on Earth

Woo-hoo! The Cassini spacecraft team released a radar image of what looks to be the largest body of liquid ever found on Titan’s surface. Titan, which orbits Saturn, is a chemically and geologically interesting world, and has been the subject of long-term study by the spacecraft since its arrival. The lake, which is likely made of liquid methane and/or ethane, covers about 100,000 square kilometers, which is larger than Lake Superior in the United States. Now, on Earth, seas are maintained through a constant cycle of water supply between the continents and water masses (the oceans, lakes, rivers, glaciers, etc.). Scientists think that on Titan, the same cycle is at work, but instead of water, the recycled material is methane (a hydrocarbon in great abundance in the outer solar system). And, there are more of these “seas” and lakes on Titan; so much so that the spacecraft teams are scheduling some additional radar studies of the surface to see them. Stay tuned!