Latest Space Science Institute Stories

JPL -- Scientists are celebrating the first Cassini spacecraft sighting of spokes, the ghostly radial markings discovered in Saturn's rings by NASA's Voyager spacecraft 25 years ago. A sequence of images taken on the side of the rings not illuminated by the sun has captured a few faint, narrow spokes in the outer B ring, about 3,500 kilometers long and about 100 kilometers wide (2,200 miles by 60 miles). Previously, scientists believed the visibility of spokes depended on the elevation of the...

JPL -- In a spectacular kick-off to its first season of prime ring viewing, which began last month, the Cassini spacecraft has confirmed earlier suspicions of an unseen moon hidden in a gap in Saturn's outer A ring. A new image and movie show the new moon and the waves it raises in the surrounding ring material.The moon, provisionally named S/2005 S1, was first seen in a time-lapse sequence of images taken on May 1, 2005, as Cassini began its climb to higher inclinations in orbit around...

With the latest Titan images showing channels and fluid-like branching, scientists have begun the debate anew whether fluid might have shaped the Earth-like moon. Imaging science team leader for Cassini, Carolyn Porco, describes the initial surprise and excitement of seeing Titan up close.Astrobiology Magazine -- Carolyn Porco of the Space Science Institute (Boulder, Colorado) heads Cassini's imaging science team. She sat down with Astrobiology Magazine's Chief Editor, Helen Matsos, to give a...