Saturn Double Shot 1/2: Less-Than-Ancient Moons

It’s always funny explaining astronomical time to a non-scientist.  I often get the craziest looks when I mention a million years as being a ‘blip on the radar.’  Perhaps there is some immortal alien race out there who would understand how nothing much happens on the scale of the universe in a million years.  To humanity and our ever-accelerating advancement, a million years is thrice the age of our entire species.  But I guess Einstein was right when he said that ‘it’s all relative.’ This brings us to Saturn, a planet as ancient as the solar system.  Moderately old in...

Saturn’s Moons: Voyager vs. Cassini Images

Since Voyager 1 and 2 passed by Saturn in 1980 and 1981 respectively, scientists have wanted more information about the many amazing icy moons that orbit the gas giant.  The follow up mission to Saturn, Cassini, has been in orbit around the planet for over a decade, and has since mapped the icy moons in their entirety.  Take a look at some of the Voyager images and how they compare to the new colour maps from Cassini.  I should note that the colours in the Cassini images are beyond human vision, extending into infrared and ultraviolet to add some further...