saturn
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Waves of Methane Are Crashing on the Coasts of Saturn’s Bizarre Moon Titan
In 2006, a NASA spacecraft flew by Saturn’s largest moon and found evidence of large bodies of liquid on the surface of the bizarre world. The shocking discovery meant that Titan’s landscape is eerily similar to that of Earth’s; the two worlds are the only ones known to have rivers, lakes, and seas on the…
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Something Is Messing With a Ring System Between Saturn and Uranus
A previously unknown satellite may be shaping the rings of Chariklo, a petite body that orbits the Sun between the orbits of Saturn and Uranus, according to a team of astronomers that recently simulated the rings’ dynamics. Chariklo is about 160 miles (257.5 kilometers) across and is one of the Centaurs, a group of icy…
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NASA Plans to Visit a Toxic Moon—Here’s How It’s Testing a ‘Dragonfly’ for the Mission
Dragonfly’s flight system is undergoing rigorous testing in a wind tunnel, with varying wind speeds to simulate the environment of Saturn’s moon Titan.
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Lifespans of Rivers Revealed on Titan and Ancient Mars
Mars and Saturn’s moon Titan are of a shared scientific interest: the two worlds boast river channels similar to those on our own planet. Though Mars’ water networks dried up long ago, Titan’s liquid methane and ethane rivers are still coursing on the moon’s surface today. Both kinds are of scientific interest because they could…