Methone is one of Saturn's tiny little moons, that apparently gets ice-blasted by the ejecta from Enceladus. Up until now it has been just a point of light. Well, Cassini got a shot at it from about 1200 km, and the little 3km moon looks like a nice smooth pebble. Look close, because this historical shot may very well be the best view humanity gets of this little heavenly body for decades to come.
Impressive, isn't it?
NASA: "Cassini discovered Methone and two other small moons, Pallene and Anthe, between the orbits of Mimas and Enceladus between 2004 and 2007. The three tiny moons, called the Alkyonides group, are embedded in Saturn's E ring, and their surfaces are sprayed by ice particles originating from the jets of water ice, water vapor and organic compounds emanating from the south polar area of Enceladus."
No comments:
Post a Comment