A Storm on Saturn

In Saturn's North Pole sits a spinning red storm, whose outer edges form an octagon. As seen here by our friend, Cassini. A close up:

It looks like fire but it's not fire, because there's nothing to burn. Some combination of water and ammonia and other gases, each reflecting light differently, giving us color:

Amazing color. Cassini took this photo while stoned, for the record.

Cassini

That "star" you see in the middle right is actually Earth. Our world, from Cassini.

Cassini is currently cruising around Saturn, taking it all in.

Cassini is one of mankind's greatest achievements, on par with the pyramids etc. And I mean that both ironically and unironically.

Lord of The E Ring

It's Enceladus! An amazing moon of Saturn that we've learned a ton about in the past ten years, thanks to the wonderful Cassini probe. It's the brightest object in the Solar System for starters (apart from the Sun, of course). Why? Because it's completely ice and highly reflective. But see those blue stripes at the bottom?

The so called "Tiger Stripes" are areas on the Southside of the moon where the ice crust is weakened, allowing liquid water to rise to the surface. Liquid water, you say, that far out into space?! But it's so cold! True, but thanks to tidal friction caused by the massive Saturn and the other moons around it, Enceladus is squeezed and stretched with every orbit and this creates enough friction within the moon to generate heat. Heat enough to not only create a global subsurface ocean, but warm enough to create CRYOVOLCANOES.

Like Old Faithful in Yellowstone Park, geysers. But on a scale far, far bigger - these geysers, or water volcanoes, shoot an enormous amount of water into space, where it instantly freezes. Some falls back onto Enceladus, creating new layers of ice crust. The rest goes into orbit around Saturn, creating the "E Ring":

As seen here. Amazing, yes? And so we begin our tour of the Solar System's moons. Tune in tomorrow for the next exciting moon(s)!

Moons of Another Mother

I know I've expressed my love of Moons before - many times - but gosh darn they're fascinating. In many ways, the moons of our solar system are far more interesting than the planets. More to choose from, for starters! Jupiter and Saturn are the Big Momma's when it comes to moons in our sector,  as they have so many, and each is different than the next.

And I know I've waxed poetic about my favorite spacecraft of all - Cassini. Currently in orbit around Saturn, snapping sweet shots left and right. Like the one above - an actual photo, not a shop. Can you believe it! It's so beautiful - the rings of Saturn, with Dione and Rhea above. Here's another pic of the same two moons, not as dramatic though:

 Incredible, yes? And the wonders don't stop. Here's Mimas (I one day hope to drink a mimosa around Mimas), or, The Death Star Moon:

 It is a Moon! Here's Mimas framed against the rings (Wallpaper size):

 And finally, as I've mentioned before, my favorite moon, Titan. The label for this photo says that's Tethys behind it, but it sure does look like Mimas to me. You can decide for yourself:

Another piece of held wisdom: Earth is the water planet. Not true at all. In comparison not only to the big planets past Mars, but also to many of their Moons (like Enceladus), the Earth is a mostly dry rock. The only reason it appears so wet is water can exist on the surface in liquid form, whereas out there, it's in ice at the surface, and most likely liquid deep below. Point being, all the water we could ever need, all the minerals and materials we could ever need, is out there, waiting. Will we get to it?


The Obelisk can get bent, if that's your answer, by the way.

Ready for my close up

Say howdy-do to our Star: The Sun! This amazing picture was taken by amateur astronomer Alan Friedman - read more about how he took this picture here.

Click for big, as always. As always, of course, the closer you look at something, the weirder it becomes. I can't help but see an embryo in the above picture.

Bonus shot: Same sun, shining far away:

Our old friend Cassini caught this reflection off a methane lake on the surface of Titan - amazing, eh?

Dione and Titan

In the foreground, Dione; in the background, mighty Titan. Both moons of Saturn, who has many moons. Titan is a wonder - a thick atmosphere obscures the surface, a surface which holds liquid flowing in rivers, streams, flowing into lakes, swelling in to the wind lapped oceans. This liquid is methane, but still, it represents the second of two planets with liquid flowing on the surface. The other being, Earth, of course.

You know, if we could (somehow) redirect all the military spending on Earth towards space travel, we would already have colonized the inner solar system. It is within our grasp right now, but our desire to fear our brothers and sisters causes us instead to gird our collective loins in nuclear girdles and robotic drawers. We easily - if we all chose - could be one people, exploring the solar system, instead of a collection of petty tribes bickering over a lemon tree.

As the Buddha might have said: Paradise is already here; we just have to realize it. 

Saturnalia!

This amazing picture (click for big) was taken by Cassini, which is currently orbiting Saturn and has been for some time (originally launched in 1989!). It shows a remarkable phenomena - a solar eclipse, except Saturn is the Eclipser, rather than the familiar Moon.

Amazing fact: It is pure co-incidence that we see full solar eclipses on Earth - no where else in our Solar System is it possible, and maybe no where else in our Galaxy, or heck, even our Universe (though I doubt that)! The lucky break is the moon is precisely the right size in relation to its distance to the sun to completely block out the sun when in eclipse.

Alas! The Moon is moving away from Earth every moment - about an inch and half per year. Consider! The Moon is 5 feet further away now than in 1970. Amazing, eh? Give that a few million more years, and eventually, the Moon will be so far away we will no longer get full Solar Eclipses on Earth.

So! Enjoy it while we can!