Snowballs caught crashing into Saturn's weirdest ring
From a distance, Saturn's rings look flawlessly smooth, as if they've been in their current state indefinitely. But as the Voyager and Cassini probes have witnessed, the rings are incredibly dynamic. Small moons shepherd the ice and dust that comprise the rings, providing them with structure. At the same time, the passing of the moons creates gravitational distortions in the rings: spokes, ripples, and gaps within the ring material. As the ring material gets pushed together or pulled apart, smaller bodies can form within the ring, or be pulled apart into tiny ring particles. While watching one of Saturn's moons, Prometheus, shepherd the edges of the F ring, researchers were surprised to find what they've termed "minijets," trails of ring particles that can be over 100 kilometers long. Although they don't have the ability to image the objects causing these jets, researchers think that they're simply large snowballs that have been aggregated under the influence of gravity, and were gradually pushed out of the
Snowballs caught crashing into Saturn's weirdest ring
See the first video of sparkling mini-jets on one of Saturn's most distant rings
Thu 26 Apr 12 from Newscientist
Mystery jets in Saturn's rings
Thu 26 Apr 12 from TIME
Strange Objects Punching Holes Through Saturn’s Outer Ring
NASA's Cassini spacecraft has revealed mysterious kilometer-sized objects that punch through Saturn's chaotic and ever-changing F ring, leaving trails of ice behind them.
Wed 25 Apr 12 from Wired Science
Cassini sees objects blazing trails in Saturn ring
(Phys.org) -- Scientists working with images from NASA's Cassini spacecraft have discovered strange half-mile-sized (kilometer-sized) objects punching through parts of Saturn's F ring, leaving ...
Tue 24 Apr 12 from Phys.org
Pictures: Huge "Snowballs" Seen Piercing Saturn's Outer Ring
Odd objects seen sailing through the planet's outer F ring create glittering trails of ice dubbed mini-jets, researchers have announced.
Wed 25 Apr 12 from National Geographic
Mysterious Objects Punching Holes In Weird Saturn Ring
The outermost F ring around Saturn has long been a mystery.
Tue 24 Apr 12 from SPACE.com
Small objects blasting a path through Saturn's F ring
From a distance, Saturn's rings look flawlessly smooth, as if they've been in their current state indefinitely. But as the Voyager and Cassini probes have witnessed, the rings are incredibly ...
Tue 24 Apr 12 from Ars Technica
Nasa's Cassini probe snaps objects punching through Saturn's F ring
Huge snowballs have been snapped punching through Saturn’s F ring, the outermost of the planet's main rings, with a radius of about 87,000 miles.
Tue 24 Apr 12 from Daily Mail
Cassini spots tears in Saturn's rings
NASA scientists have unveiled video of jumbo snowballs punches glittering trails in Saturn's rings.
Mon 23 Apr 12 from USA today
Cassini Spacecraft Sees New Objects Blazing Trails in Saturn Ring
Scientists working with images from NASA's Cassini spacecraft have discovered strange, half-mile-sized objects punching through one of Saturn's rings and leaving glittering trails behind them.
Mon 23 Apr 12 from Science @ NASA
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