New Atlas

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Titan's deep lakes more Earth-like than previously thought

David Szondy April 15, 2019

Based on radar data returned by NASA's Cassini orbiter in 2017 during its final flyby, researchers have determined that the small methane lakes set on hills in the northern hemisphere of Titan are over 100 m deep, providing new clues as to how Titan's methane-based hydrologic cycle works.

A near-infrared, color mosaic from NASA's Cassini spacecraft shows the sun glinting off of Titan's north ...

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Saturn's strange moons are scooping up material from the rings and growing

Michael Irving March 29, 2019

Two years ago the Cassini probe flew past for a closer look at a few of Saturn's inner moons. Now a NASA team has analyzed the data and uncovered some intriguing new details about these tiny worlds, including how they’re busily scooping up material from Saturn’s rings and growing into weird shapes.

Newly-analyzed data from Cassini shows that Saturn's moons are scooping up material from the planet's rings ...

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How long is a Saturnian day? Now we know

David Szondy January 19, 2019

Reset your interplanetary watches because data from NASA's Cassini probe has finally answered the question of how long a day on Saturn is. Using the planet's giant rings as a natural seismograph, a team of scientist calculated that Saturn rotates once every 10 hours, 33 minutes and 38 seconds.

Data from NASA's Cassini spacecraft has allowed astronomers to calculate the length of a Saturnian day

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Saturn's rings may be far younger than we thought

David Szondy January 17, 2019

Saturn's rings may not only vanish in 100 million years, but they may have only been around for as little as 10 million years. Using data gathered in the last days of NASA's Cassini mission, a team has concluded that the rings may have been created sometime between 10 and 100 million years ago.

An artist's concept of the Cassini orbiter crossing Saturn's ring plane

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Summer is coming: Cassini images show methane rain on Titan

Michael Irving January 16, 2019

Titan, the largest moon of Saturn, is a surprisingly dynamic world. Summer was due to hit its northern hemisphere in 2016, but strangely it didn’t seem to arrive as expected. Now, astronomers have analyzed Cassini images and found evidence of rainfall, indicating that finally, summer is coming.

A composite image of Titan, where evidence of summer rainfall has been found in the northern ...

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Scientists give Saturn's rings 100 million years to live

Nick Lavars December 17, 2018

A new NASA study has revealed Saturn rings are shedding their material much faster than we realized, so much so its existence could one day come to resemble a tiny blip in the timeline of its entire life.

Saturn's iconic rings are disappearing, and new research offers new insights into how quicky

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Cassini data shows first evidence of organic dust storms on Titan

David Szondy September 24, 2018

The Cassini mission continues to pay dividends long after its demise as data gathered during its flybys of Saturn's largest moon, Titan, between 2004 and 2017 indicate that the satellite has dust storms made of complex organic molecules.

Artist’s impression of a dust storm on Titan

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NASA releases Cassini's final look at Titan's polar lakes

David Szondy September 17, 2018

NASA's Cassini probe burned up in Saturn's atmosphere about a year ago, but a newly-released image shows that its last days were anything but idle. Four days before its fiery end, Cassini's a mosaic view of the Saturnian largest moon Titan's north polar lakes filled with liquid methane and ethane.

View of Titan's north polar lakes as seen by Cassini

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Infrared images peek through the clouds of Saturn's mysterious moon Titan

Michael Irving July 19, 2018

Saturn’s moon Titan is one of the most interesting bodies in the solar system – but at a glance it looks like a dull yellow ball, thanks to a soupy atmosphere. Now, using 13 years’ worth of infrared data from Cassini, astronomers have stitched together the clearest images yet of Titan’s surface.

NASA has released six new infrared images of Saturn's moon Titan, which show off some of ...

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Space music: NASA listens in on Enceladus

David Szondy July 9, 2018

Using data returned by the unmanned Cassini spacecraft as it made its last orbits, space scientists have captured the dynamic interaction of plasma waves moving between Saturn and its moon Enceladus and turned them into a haunting cosmic soundtrack.

NASA's Cassini spacecraft's Grand Finale orbits found a powerful interaction of plasma waves moving from Saturn ...