Cassini's Saturn

Neptune has 14 different moons. Neptune’s largest moon is called Triton. Triton is the only large moon in the solar system to orbit in the opposite direction to its planet’s rotation, this is known as a retrograde orbit. The distance of its orbit is 354,759 km. Its orbit period takes 5.9 days (retrograde). Triton was discovered by William Lassell. Neptune has 5 rings. Neptune is very cold compared to Earth. It is -214 degrees Celsius. Neptune is the smallest of the ice giants. Despite being smaller than Uranus, Neptune has a greater mass. Below its heavy atmosphere, Uranus is made of layers of hydrogen, helium, and methane gases. They enclose a layer of water, ammonia and methane ice. The inner core of the planet is made of

Saturn was named after the Greek God, Cronus. Saturn was the most distant of the five planets that were known to ancient civilizations. Galileo Galilei was the first to look at Saturn through a telescope in 1610. But the oldest written documentation of the ringed planet can be traced back to the Assyrians. When around 700 BCE, they portrayed Saturn as “A sparkle in the night” and named it "Star of Ninib." Later on in 1659 a Dutch astronomer called Christiaan Huygens suggested that there was a thin, flat ring surrounding Saturn as he watched Saturn through a much more powerful telescope then Galileo's. After that in 1675 Jean-Dominique Cassini, an Italian

Saturn is unique of all the planets, adorned with thousands of beautiful ringlets and has 63 moons with confirmed orbits. Fifty-three of the moons have been named, with Titan being the largest and the only one with an atmosphere. Saturn is mostly a massive ball of hydrogen and helium, much like the planet Jupiter.

In 1979, Voyager 1 discovered Jupiter’s ring system. Jupiter has three rings. Galileo spacecraft suggested that these rings are formed when meteoroids hit Jupiter’s tiny closest moons.

Galileo spacecraft first discovered the four largest moon of Jupiter, called Io, Europa, Ganymede and Ganymede and Callisto. Ganymede is the largest moon in the Solar System Atmosphere And Planetary Composition: Temperature Range: The cloud-tops average 120 K=153*C=-244*F. Atmosphere: Jupiter is a gaseous planet; it does not have a solid surface like the Earth does (but probably has a solid, rocky core 10 to 15 times the mass of the Earth). When we look at Jupiter, we are seeing icy clouds of gases moving at high speeds in the atmosphere. Jupiter's atmosphere is composed of about 90% hydrogen and 10% helium.

NASA launched the Cassini-Huygens mission on October 15, 1997. Cassini was sent to explore the system of the planet Saturn. With help from Venus, Earth and Jupiter, Cassini made a series of gravity-assisted maneuvers.

craters. The smaller moons of Saturn, are mostly rock and ice, and are heavily cratered.

From 1974 to the present, two separate spacecraft have completed journeys to Mercury: Mariner 10 and MESSENGER. The objective was and is the same for both, that objective being to get pictures of Mercury from several angles, so scientists at NASA have multiple points of reference. Mariner 10 attempted this, to little avail, and so MESSENGER was brought on to do the job.

Enceledus is the sixth-largest moon of Saturn which discovered by William Herdchel in 1789. Three spacecrafts contributed the main discovery of the Enceledus. Voyager I spacecraft found that Enceledus has a high albedo and is orbiting inside the E ring of the Saturn at the highest density point whereas Voyager II spacecraft observed that there are at least 5 type of terrain on the surface such as crater terrain, young terrain and so on. Cassina spacecraft discovered water-rich plumes venting from the south polar region which approved that the Enceledus is the source of the E ring and is able to create life. In addition the environment on Enceledus is perfect fits in all the chemical requirements for life existence.

Jupiter’s four largest moons were found by Galileo Galilee. Those moons are known as the Galilean satellites. Jupiter has over 67 moons, most have been named but some still remain. (Chown, M.C 2011 Solar System, Touch Press 115-137). Jupiter also has rings. Like all the other gas giants Jupiter also has rings but unlike the other planets with rings, Jupiter’s are pretty much invisible, they are the very dark. It is impossible to see Jupiter’s rings with a pair of binoculars. In fact, no one knew that Jupiter has rings until they were first seen with a very powerful telescope in 1979. Jupiter’s magnetic field is about 20,000 times stronger than Earth’s magnetic field and Jupiter’s magnetic field ranges farther than Saturn and Jupiter’s gravity is interferes with Saturn’s orbit around the sun. Jupiter’s magnetosphere revolves with Jupiter every 10 hours. The space inside the magnetosphere is filled with solar winds and its own subatomic particles. Some are placed in the magnetosphere by the volcanoes on Io (one of Jupiter’s moons) which create a doughnut-shaped ring of Sulphur and sodium around

Saturn is one of the most interesting planets in the solar system. It is the sixth planet in the solar system, and is most famous for its stunning array of rings. It is a very easy planet to pick out in the sky because it is one of the brightest lights in the shy. It also has a very faint greenish color that makes it stand out from the rest of the objects in the sky (“Astronomy for Kids”). Saturn is the second largest planet in the solar system, Jupiter being the only planet that is bigger. It also has at least eighteen moons, more than any other planet in the solar system. There have been three voyages to this extraordinary planet, and one is still in process today. The Pioneer II traveled to Saturn in September of 1979,

Enceladus was discovered in 1789. This moon was actually discovered by Fredrick William Herschel. The moon, Enceladus was actually seen for the first time during the Saturnian equinox, When earth was in the ring plane. The reduction in glare from the rings, made it way easier to see the moon. Only its orbital characteristics were actually known, with his estimations of its mass, density, and albedo.

They are similarities. All have dates and facts. For example in “The Mysteries of Saturn” it states, “in July 2004 the Cassini spacecraft entered Saturn’s orbit and began to collect valuable information” In “Cassini Mission” it states, “in December 2004 a probe was dropped into Titan’s atmosphere. Then the leader began gathering data.” According to the illustration the first picture of Earth, Mars, Venus, and Saturn together was taken by the Cassini in 2013. All of this information was gathered using improved technology.

In 1609, Galileo Galilei, using “spyglass” which allowed one to see things closer than they appeared, made an early version of the telescope. With it, he observed the skies in a way no one had before. He discovered the moon isn’t perfectly globular, it has craters, the Sun has sunspots, Venus orbits the Sun (contrary to widespread belief in his time), and then he observed four “stars” around Jupiter (“Our Solar System”). Within

Europa is the sixth of Jupiter's moons and the fourth largest. Europa is named after a Phoenician princess who was abducted by Zeus and taken to the island of Crete to be his lover. Europa was discovered by Galileo Galilei and possibly Simon Marius in 1610 and is one of the four Galilean satellites. The others being: Io, Ganymede, and Callisto. Europa is very different from the other moons of Jupiter. Instead of a rocky, cratered surface like Callisto and Ganymede, it instead has a smooth outer surface of cracked ice. There are very few sign of craters on Europa. In fact, only three large craters have been found. This indicates that Europa's surface is very young and active. In photographs sent back by orbiters, the surface resembles sea ice on Earth. Astronomers believe that beneath this layer of ice may exist an ocean, kept liquid by the moon's internal heat. This liquid ocean could be as much as 30 miles deep. The existence of deep ocean vents on the ocean floor on Earth have led some scientists to speculate that there could be a possibility of life on Europa. Around these deep sea vents on Earth are life forms that do not need sunlight to survive. They instead feed on bacteria that get their nutrients from chemicals seeping up from the ocean floor. This process is known as chemosynthesis. Scientists believe that similar life forms could evolve on Europa if a liquid ocean does indeed exist beneath its frozen surface.