![]() ![]() The imaging team is based at the Space Science Institute, Boulder, Colo.įor more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras were designed, developed and assembled at JPL. But in fact, there are hundreds of moons in our solar system, in many shapes, sizes, and types. Venus and Mercury, meanwhile, are devoid of any such natural satellites. Jupiter has an impressive 53 confirmed moons orbiting its colossal body, the same number as Saturn. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. Neptune has 14 moons, while Uranus has 27. The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. When viewed from the dark (unlit) side, the rings are essentially an inverse of their familiar appearance (see From the Dark Side and Rings from Afar to compare the different views). ![]() The image has been contrast-enhanced and magnified by a factor of two to aid visibility. Atlas is a family of US missiles and space launch vehicles that originated with the SM-65 Atlas.The Atlas intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) program was initiated in the late 1950s under the Convair Division of General Dynamics. The same sheparding effect, produces Saturns thin, outermost F ring, with moons orbiting on either side of the ring, constraining the material ( Sky & Telescope Nov. Resolution in the original image was 5 kilometers (3 miles) per pixel. Now Saturns smallest known satellite, the moon pushes material away from its orbit and is believed to cause the 200 mile-wide Encke gap. 18, 2005, at a distance of approximately 914,000 kilometers (568,000 miles) from Atlas. This image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on Feb. Imaging scientists had predicted the new moon's presence and its orbital distance from Saturn after last July's sighting of a set of peculiar spiky and wispy features in the Keeler gap's outer edge. Atlas is 32 kilometers (20 miles) across. Atlas and other moons exist outside the main ring system, as do the two F ring shepherd moons, Prometheus and Pandora. ![]() They appear to be unique to the Saturnian system, but it is uncertain whether the occurrences are related or a coincidence. They are ridges that closely follow the moons' equators. The background of Saturn's atmosphere (a uniform grey in this image) lies approximately 76,000 kilometers (47,000 miles) beyond the little moon. Equatorial ridges are a feature of at least three of Saturn 's moons: the large moon Iapetus and the tiny moons Atlas and Pan. From a viewing angle slightly above the ringplane Cassini spied Saturn's moon Atlas, which orbits Saturn between the broad A ring and the thin F ring. ![]()
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