The Rings and Moons of Saturn

On July 1, 2004 UTC, the Cassini-Huygens spacecraft fired its main engine to reduce its speed, allowing the spacecraft to be captured by Saturn's gravity and enter orbit. The spacecraft will spend four years touring the ringed planet, its mysterious moons, the stunning rings, and its complex magnetic environment. During the Saturn Tour, Cassini will complete 74 orbits of the ringed planet, 44 close flybys of the mysterious moon Titan, and numerous flybys of Saturn's other icy moons.

The Cassini-Huygens mission is an international collaboration among three space agencies. The Cassini orbiter was built and is managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The European Space Agency (ESA) built the Huygens Probe. The Italian Space Agency provided Cassini's high-gain antenna. Seventeen countries had contributed to the mission at the time of launch. More than 250 scientists worldwide are involved in studying the data coming in from the Saturn system.

Use your Saturn System Diagram to answer the following questions. Each of the following images was taken by the Cassini Spacecraft. I’ll be showing these as a powerpoint. If you are absent, I’ve included the link to the image.

1. Which of Saturn’s rings and gaps can you see in this picture? The moon you can see at the top is Tethys.

http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/multimedia/images/rings/images/PIA06548-br500.jpg

2. An intriguing knotted ringlet within the Encke Gap is the main attraction in the Cassini image at the bottom. The Encke Gap is a small division near the outer edge of Saturn's rings that is about 300 kilometers (190 miles) wide. Which of Saturn’s moons maintains this gap (you can see this moon faintly in the image at the right)? In which ring is this gap?

bottom image:
http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/multimedia/images/rings/PIA06534-br500.jpg

right image:
http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/multimedia/images/rings/images/PIA06554-br500.jpg

3. In this image, we see Prometheus working its gravitational influence on a near by ring (resolved into five separate strands in this close-up view to the left). What ring is this?

http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/multimedia/images/rings/PIA06143-br500.jpg

4. This image shows Saturn's A and F rings, along with three of the moons that orbit close to them. What tiny moon (32 kilometers, or 20 miles, across) orbits just outside of the bright A ring and is seen above center in this view? Prometheus (102 kilometers, or 63 miles, across) is visible near lower right. What is its cohort that shepherds the thin, knotted F ring? What moon is in the lower left (hint: it shares its orbit with the moon Epimetheus)?

http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/multimedia/images/rings/PIA06522-br500.jpg

5. In this image you can see the faint F ring. The moon visible in the lower right corner orbits Saturn just beyond the G Ring into the E ring. What is this moon?

http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/multimedia/images/rings/PIA06506-br500.jpg

Your Questions:

6. What is the thickness (in km) of the gap between the G and F rings? (Leah)

7. Which ring is the brightest? (Chelsey)

8. How many moons are between the F and G rings? What are they? (Ana)

9. What is between the edge of Saturn and the D ring? (Heather)

10. What is the closest moon to Saturn’s cloud tops? (Nicole)

11. What Causes the gaps between the rings? (Caitlin)

12. How far from Saturn’s center would you have to go to draw a circle which contains all of Saturn’s moons listed on the diagram? (Richard)

13. What is Saturn’s densest ring? (Carlton)

14. Compare the diameter of Titan to the diameter of Saturn. How many times bigger is Saturn than Titan? (Laura)

15. Which three moon’s in the E ring orbit Saturn at about the same distance? (Danny)