NASA Nabs Close-Ups of 'Spongy' Saturn Moon

Planet's latest addition sparks search for more

(NEWSER) - Scientists have discovered Saturn’s 60th moon, and are hinting that more could exist. In May, cameras aboard the Cassini spacecraft captured the “extremely faint object,” which scientists have officially designated a moon and tentatively named Frank. Composed mostly of ice and rock, Frank is about a mile wide and orbits between two other Saturnian moons, Methone and Pallene. More»

Cassini probe captures objects punching through ring

(NEWSER) - Inside Saturn's outermost ring, NASA's Cassini probe has captured activity that researchers liken to a cosmic snowball fight. Hundreds of balls of snow and ice up to half a mile in diameter have been spotted punching through the F ring at gentle speeds, leaving glittering trails behind them, the BBC reports. The snowballs are created by moons like Prometheus, which move along the outside of the ring, and researchers believe some of them survive to become moonlets of their own. More»

Primitive lifeform may explain absence of hydrogen

(NEWSER) - Something is sucking up hydrogen on one of Saturn's moons and NASA scientists believe it could be alive. Data from the Cassini probe suggests there is less hydrogen and acetylene on Titan's surface than scientists expected, a phenomenon that could be explained by the existence of primitive, methane-based lifeforms, the researchers write. More»

Watery Titan and salty Mars could have evidence of life

(NEWSER) - NASA has unlocked two more of the solar system's secrets, the Orlando Sentinel reports. The Cassini orbiter discovered evidence of an underground ocean churning deep below the surface of Titan, Saturn's largest moon, and the Mars Odyssey spacecraft has found ancient salt deposits on the red planet. Both discoveries have scientists excited about fresh possibilities of finding extraterrestrial life. More»

(NEWSER) - NASA's radar detected evidence of huge seas—one of them larger than any of the Great Lakes—on the surface of Saturn's moon, Titan. Although the spacecraft, Cassini, cannot confirm that the dark images are liquid until passing over the area again as scheduled in May, scientists believe they are bodies of liquid ethane or methane gas. More»