Gemma Ware, The Conversation and Fiona Lally, The Conversation
Fingers on buzzers.
Saturn eclipsing the sun, seen from behind by the Cassini orbiter. Earth is the small dot between the rings on the upper, left-hand side.
NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute
One of the most successful space exploration missions of all time still has a lot left to uncover.
Saturn and its rings backlit by the sun, which is blocked by the planet in this view. Encircling the planet and inner rings is the much more extended E-ring.
NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute
Earth is a relatively dry planet compared to some of the other ocean worlds in our Solar system. Life needs water so what about life on these other places?
There has been much excitement this week about the possibility of water – and life – on some newly discovered exoplanets. But we can look closer to home for evidence of ET.
Enceladus, with its warm internal ocean, is thought to be potentially habitable.
Marc Van Norden/Flickr
Recent Martian findings are just the latest discoveries of aurora on other planets, both in and out of our solar system.
Will Cassini find evidence of microbial life in the plumes from Enceladus? A new study has made it a whole lot easier.
NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute
Study pinpoints some of the chemical signs of microbial life on Enceladus. The study could in part be corroborated by Cassini’s flyby of the moon.
We know exactly what it looks like but have been unable to explain how it came into being - until now.
NASA, ESA, and A. Simon (Goddard Space Flight Center)
Look up at the night sky this week and you’ll find Mars and Saturn together in the west. Mars stands out with its reddish colouring and you might just be able to detect a faint yellow tinge to Saturn…
On the night of Monday August 4, mainland Australia will see Saturn disappear behind the moon. It’s the third time this year that the moon and Saturn will perfectly line up, as viewed from our part of…
Now you see it – and now you don’t.
Christina L. F./ Flickr
Tanya Hill, Museums Victoria Research Institute and Jonti Horner, University of Southern Queensland
Everyone’s favourite ringed planet – the magnificent Saturn – is well worth some extra attention in the coming days. Tomorrow night, it reaches opposition, shining at its very best and brightest, directly…
One of Saturn’s many moons, Enceladus seems to have a large body of water hiding under its icy crust.
NASA
An ocean of water has been found underneath the icy crust of Enceladus, Saturn’s sixth largest moon, according to observations of the Cassini spacecraft published in Science today. This result has come…
Finding liquid water on a celestial body within the solar system is exciting. The only thing that is probably more exciting is finding an ocean full of it. Today such news comes via Cassini, which has…
The joint NASA-ESA Cassini space probe, exploring Saturn and her moons, has revealed extraordinary lakes and seas of liquid methane around the north pole of Titan. Scientists associated with the Cassini…
The spinning vortex of Saturn’s north polar storm resembles a deep red rose of giant proportions surrounded by green foliage, NASA said.
NASA/JPL-Caltech/SSI
The US space agency has released fresh pictures of a hurricane with a 2000km wide eye locked over Saturn’s north pole and spinning at around four times the speed of earthly hurricane winds. The pictures…