Cassini space probe to flyby Saturn's moon Iapetus

Monday, September 10, 2007  File:Iapetus mosaic color.jpg

The Cassini space probe will make a close flyby today of Saturn's third largest moon Iapetus. For reasons that are not well-understood, one side of Iapetus is much darker than the other side. Explanations for the dark side include meteorite deposition as well as possible debris from other moons of Saturn.

Also, the Cassini probe had previously discovered an equatorial ridge on Iapetus during a flyby in 2004 which compounds Iapetus' already non-spherical shape. The origin of the ridge is also not well understood and scientists have proposed a variety of explanations for its presence. This second flyby will be approximately 1,600 km from the surface and will be about 100 times closer than the previous flyby. Scientists hope that the detailed observation using radar and photography will provide insight into Iapetus's odd shape and coloring.

Iapetus was first discovered by Giovanni Cassini, for whom the probe is named, in 1671. He was also responsible for discovering that one side of Iapetus was substantially darker than the other.

This flyby will likely be the last close flyby of one of Saturn's moons by the Cassini probe.

• "Cassini photographs possible lakes on Saturn's moon, Titan" — Wikinews, July 30, 2006
• "Cassini discovers Saturn moon atmosphere" — Wikinews, March 19, 2005

• "Iapetus Flyby" — JPL, September 10, 2007
• "Cassini to fly by Saturn's moon" — Xinhua News Agency, September 7, 2007
• Lucy Sherriff. "Cassini closes in on Iapetus" — The Register, September 6, 2007
• "Cassini to have a close Iapetus encounter" — Science Daily, September 6, 2007
• Jeff Hecht. "New attempts to crack Saturn's 'walnut' moon" — New Scientist, September 4, 2007
• Dale Hawkins. "Tehachapi Skywatch: Lunar eclipse left rooster crowing" — Tehachapi, September 3, 2007
• "Space Topics: Saturn" — The Planetary Society, November 15, 2005
  

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This page is archived, and is no longer publicly editable. Articles presented on Wikinews reflect the specific time at which they were written and published, and do not attempt to encompass events or knowledge which occur or become known after their publication. Got a correction? Add the template {{editprotected}} to the talk page along with your corrections, and it will be brought to the attention of the administrators. Please note that due to our archival policy, we will not alter or update the content of articles that are archived, but will only accept requests to make grammatical and formatting corrections. Note that some listed sources or external links may no longer be available online due to age.