Space telescope finds supersized Saturn ring

William Atkins
Wednesday, 07 October 2009 19:33

Science - Space

NASA states, “The ring itself is tenuous, made up of a thin array of ice and dust particles. Spitzer's infrared eyes were able to spot the glow of the band's cool dust.”

Dr. Verbiscer said, "The particles are so far apart that if you were to stand in the ring, you wouldn't even know it." [NASA]

Spitzer observed the glow of the cool dust, which has a temperature of only about 80 Kelvin (minus 316 degrees Fahrenheit).

Dr. Verbiscer said, "By focusing on the glow of the ring's cool dust, Spitzer made it easy to find."

Because the ring is thought to have formed from micrometeroid impacts to the moon Phoebe, astronomers think that the ring orbits in a retrograde orbit, like Phoebe.

In addition, these astronomers who made the discovery believe that materials within this ring may have affected the moon Iapetus, making its leading hemisphere (in its orbit) different in appearance from its trailing hemisphere.

Its leading face looks dark with a reddish-brown coloring, while its trailing face is bright. The NASA article states, some of “… the dark and dusty material from the outer ring moves inward toward Iapetus, slamming the icy moon like bugs on a windshield.”

Additional information about this discovery made by the NASA Spitzer Space Telescope is found on the previously quoted NASA media brief “NASA Space Telescope Discovers Largest Ring Around Saturn.”

Images and information of the newly discovered ring are found at: NASA Spitzer and California Institute of Technology Spitzer.