There’s A Moon Out Tonight (Well, Okay. Four).
This is very cool. The Hubble Space Telescope caught the uncommon sight of four of Saturn’s moons transiting the planet’s face. As the article explains, it’s only possible for us to see such a thing ever 15 years or so because it has to happen while Saturn’s rings are edge-on to us, otherwise the rings block the view.
Of course, the rings are a breathtaking view in themselves, but not when you’re looking for Saturn’s moons, most of which are not very easy to see. Hubble got a very good series of images though and you can actually see all four moons involved in the transit in the photo I posted here. Titan is the large orange moon; Mimas is the tiny white dot on the very right edge of Saturn; Dione is a white dot on the left side of the photo not quite to the edge of Saturn (to the left of the darker dot, which is its own shadow); and Enceladus is on the far left edge of the planet, also trailing the darker dot of its shadow. If you still can’t quite spot all four (and it took me a couple minutes to find tiny Mimas), click through to the article and watch the brief video of the event which labels the moons so you can follow them in motion.
Other Posts of Interest:
- So Long and Thanks for All the Science!
- Another Phoenix Has Landed…on Mars
- Well, You Certainly Have to be Brave to Take on Stephen Hawking.
Category: Hey, Mr. Science Guy!, Stuff I Like
