Tag: Saturn

The conjunction was brightest on Friday morning but will remain visible until Monday from most parts of the world.

Washington: When Cassini ends its 13-year tour of the Saturn system with an intentional plunge into the planet on Friday, the spacecraft’s speed will be approximately 113,000 kms per hour, NASA has said. The final plunge will take place on the day side of Saturn, near local noon, with the spacecraft entering the atmosphere around […]

Washington: Astronomers have detected a large amount of water in the atmosphere of a hot, Saturn-mass exoplanet some 700 light-years away. The planet, known as WASP-39b, has three times as much water as Saturn does, NASA said on Thursday. Though no planet like this resides in our solar system, WASP-39b can provide new insights into […]

New York: After poring over NASA’s Cassini mission data, astronomers have determined that it takes the teamwork of seven moons to keep Saturn’s A ring – the largest and farthest of the visible rings – contained. Without forces to hold the A ring in check, the ring would keep spreading out and ultimately disappear. For […]

Los Angeles: After 13 years in orbit, the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) Cassini spacecraft made a fateful plunge into Saturn’s atmosphere on Friday morning, ending the mission just one month shy of its 20th launch anniversary. “Earth received @CassiniSaturn’s final signal at 7:55 a.m. ET (1155 GMT). Cassini is now part of […]

New York: Nasa’s robotic spacecraft Cassini that has been orbiting Saturn for 13 years is set for a final dive towards the planet and burn up in its atmosphere in a “grand finale” after it flies past Titan, Saturn’s largest moon, on September 15. Cassini’s imaging cameras will take their last look around the Saturn […]

Washington: Finding signs of life on the earth-sized planets of the TRAPPIST-1 system and on Saturn’s moon Enceladus are among the science targets that NASA’s James Webb space telescope has following its launch and commissioning, mission officials have announced. These specific observations are part of a programme of Guaranteed Time Observations (GTO), which provides dedicated […]

Washington: Saturn’s icy, ocean-bearing moon Enceladus may have tipped over in the distant past possibly due to a collision with a smaller body, such as an asteroid, according to recent research from NASA’s Cassini probe. Examining the moon’s features, researchers with the Saturn mission found evidence that the moon’s spin axis — the line through […]

Washington: A new mission to Saturn’s moons Titan or Enceladus to find signs of life beyond Earth cannot be ruled out as NASA says it is reviewing 12 proposals for future unmanned solar system mission to be launched in the mid-2020s. The proposed missions of discovery — submitted under NASA’s New Frontiers programme – will […]

Washington: Cassini is set for its second dive through the narrow gap between the planet Saturn and its rings on Tuesday at 3.38 p.m. EDT, NASA said. During its orbit, in advance of the crossing, Cassini’s cameras have been looking closely at the rings. As with the first Grand Finale dive, Cassini would be out […]

Washington: NASA’s Cassini spacecraft, which was launched in 1997 and arrived at Saturn in 2004, is about to begin the final chapter of its remarkable story this month. On April 26, the spacecraft will make the first in a series of dives through the 2,400-kilometre gap between Saturn and its rings as part of the […]

Washington: Expect to see some stunning images of Hyperion, Saturn’s odd, tumbling moon – soon as NASA’s Cassini spacecraft made its final fly-by of the spongy moon on Sunday. According to the US space agency, the Cassini spacecraft was positioned at a distance of about 34,000 km from Hyperion. Mission scientists hope to see different […]

Bengaluru: For the first time in over 400 years, sky gazers will be able to witness the great conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn. Both the planets will merge in the night sky on Monday, December 21, appearing closer to one another than they have since the 17th century. The reunion of Jupiter and Saturn is […]