The secret of Saturn's rings
Simulations show how little moons are born of the rings
Numerical simulations carried out by a team of astrophysicists from the AIM Laboratory-CEA Saclay (Université Paris Diderot, CEA, CNRS) and the Nice Observatory, based on observations made during the Cassini mission, show how some small moons are still forming around Saturn today, billions of years after the Solar System's planets and satellites stopped forming. The results were published in the journal Nature on 10th June 2010.
VIDEO
| Animation showing the position of Saturn's smallest moons and the mechanism by which they are formed from matter from Saturn's rings, reproduced via numerical simulation. Animation credits: Frédéric Durillon (animea.com)- Images: Cassini NASA/JPL/SSI |
#2840 - Last update : 06/28 2010
• Structure et évolution de l'Univers
• Institut de recherche sur les lois fondamentales de l'Univers (Irfu) • Le Département d'Astrophysique (DAp) // UMR AIM
