Chrysalis moon – pressnews

[ad_1] Scientists using data obtained by NASA's Cassini spacecraft and computer simulations said on Thursday the destruction of a large moon that strayed too close to Saturn would account both for the birth of the gas giant planet's magnificent rings and its unusual orbital tilt of about 27 degrees. The researchers named this hypothesized moon Chrysalis and said it may have been torn apart by tidal forces from Saturn's gravitational pull perhaps 160 million years ago - relatively recent compared to the date of the planet's formation more than 4.5 billion years ago. About 99% of the Chrysalis wreckage appears to have plunged into Saturn's atmosphere while the remaining 1% stayed in orbit around the planet and eventually formed the large ring system that is one o...

[ad_1] Discovered by Galileo 400 years ago, the rings of Saturn are about the most striking thing astronomers with small telescopes can spot in our solar system. But even today, experts cannot agree on how or when they formed. A new study published Thursday in the prestigious journal Science sets out to provide a convincing answer. Between 100-200 million years ago, an icy moon they named Chrysalis broke up after getting a little too close to the gas giant, they conclude. While most of it made impact with Saturn, its remaining fragments broke into small icy chunks that form the planet's signature rings. "It's nice to find a plausible explanation," Jack Wisdom, professor of planetary sciences at MIT and lead author of the new study, told AFP. Saturn, the sixth plan...

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Call it the case of the missing moon

Long lost moon created Saturn’s rings, Cassini spacecraft data backs up claim