Astronomy, features and articles | Educational Science

Apr 17, 2019

Saturn's Moon Titan May Have 'Phantom Lakes' and Caves

Picture a world where rain falls, gathers in lakes and ponds, seeps into the surrounding rock, and evaporates away, only to fall again. There's just one catch: The world is Saturn's moon, Titan, where the rain isn't water; it's liquid methane. Two new papers explore how this eerily familiar, waterless...

Apr 22, 2019

How Old Are Saturn's Rings? The Debate Rages On.

Of our solar system's wonders, one reigns as the emblem of all that is alien and otherworldly: the majestic rings of Saturn, rising resplendent and shimmering above the giant planet's buttery, cloud-crossed face. Stretching nearly 300,000 kilometers from tip to tip and containing countless icy particles ranging in size from...

Jul 2, 2019

Saturn's Icy Moon Enceladus Is Likely the 'Perfect Age' to Harbor Life

BELLEVUE, Wash. — Below the ice-covered surface of Saturn's moon Enceladus hides a vast ocean. This sprawling ocean is likely 1 billion years old, which means it's the perfect age to harbor life, said Marc Neveu, a research scientist at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center last Monday (June 24) during...

Dec 10, 2019

Weird 'Tiger Stripes' on Icy Saturn Moon Enceladus Finally Explained

New research solves some of the mysteries of the tiger stripes on Saturn's moon Enceladus. The moon has been of particular interest to scientists ever since it was observed in detail by NASA's Cassini spacecraft. With Cassini's data, scientists detected an icy, subsurface ocean on the moon and strange, tiger...

Feb 11, 2020

Saturn's weird, Earth-like moon just failed a key test for alien life

Saturn's most Earth-like moon looks a bit less likely to host life, thanks to quantum mechanics, the weird rules that govern subatomic particles. Titan, the second largest moon in our solar system after Jupiter's Ganymede, is unique in two ways that have convinced some researchers that this moon might host...

May 14, 2020

Weird Saturn hexagon covered in 'sandwich-like' layers of haze

A high-res, colorful view of Saturn's Hexagon. (Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SSI/Hampton University)There's an extensive system of haze layers in the bizarre hexagon on Saturn, a new study has found. Saturn's Hexagon is a swirling maelstrom at the planet's north pole that, as its name implies, has an odd, hexagonal shape. The...

Jun 16, 2020

Subsurface vortexes may have created Saturn's mysterious hexagon

Saturn's bold rings are not its only signature feature. Saturn also boasts a six-sided feature at its north pole, which scientists first noticed when NASA's Voyager 2 spacecraft visited Saturn in 1981. Saturn's hexagon is mesmerizing but also odd: the strange phenomenon only appears at the planet's north pole. In...

Jul 8, 2021

Methane wafting from 'tiger stripes' on Saturn moon could be sign of alien life, study suggests

The methane wafting from Enceladus may be a sign that life teems in the Saturn moon's subsurface sea, a new study reports. In 2005, NASA's Cassini Saturn orbiter discovered geysers blasting particles of water ice into space from tiger stripe fractures near Enceladus' south pole. That material, which forms a...

Aug 1, 2021

Look up! Saturn shines bright, shows off rings as it reaches opposition.

Gear up for Saturn's annual show in the night sky! Starting Monday (Aug. 2), you can find Saturn shining in the sky as part of a celestial phenomenon called opposition. Earth and the ringed planet will be on the same side of the sun and connected with our star by...

Aug 17, 2021

Saturn's rippling rings point to massive, soupy core hidden inside

Saturn's rings aren't just a beautiful adornment — scientists can use the feature to understand what's happening deep inside the planet. By using the famous rings like a seismograph, scientists studied processes in the planet's interior and determined that its core must be fuzzy. Instead of a solid sphere like...

Aug 26, 2021

Moon-in-a-jar recreates the hazy atmosphere of Titan, Saturn's largest moon

Scientists recreated the unique chemical conditions found on Titan, Saturn's largest moon, in tiny glass cylinders here on Earth, and the experiment revealed previously unknown features of the moon's mineral makeup. Titan is the second-largest moon in the solar system, behind Jupiter's Ganymede, and sports a dense atmosphere of mostly...

Jan 7, 2022

The sun used to have rings like Saturn

Before Earth and the other planets in our solar system existed, the sun may have been surrounded by giant rings of dust similar to Saturn's, according to a new study. Those rings of dust may have prevented Earth from growing into a super-Earth — a type of planet that is...

Jan 14, 2022

What are Saturn's rings made of?

Distant images make Saturn's rings appear to be one solid band of rock. However close flybys and studies have provided detailed images of the rings' arrangement, with precise snaps of some of the unique objects orbiting Saturn. Saturn's rings are an array of rocky and icy fragments, which scientists believe...

Jan 23, 2022

Saturn's 'Death Star' moon could have a secret underground ocean

Scientists have found compelling evidence that Saturn's Death Star moon is hiding an ocean just beneath its surface, furthering the search for possible life in our solar system. Researchers say that Mimas, Saturn's smallest, innermost moon — whose resemblance to Star Wars' infamous battle station inspired its nickname — revealed...

May 12, 2022

Saturn: Facts about the ringed planet

With its resplendent ring system, Saturn is arguably the most stunning planet in our solar system. Located sixth in line from the sun, it is the second-largest world orbiting the sun, after Jupiter. Though Saturn is famous for its rings, all the other giant planets, including Jupiter, Uranus and Neptune,...