New images from Nasa's Cassini-Huygens space probe suggest that Saturn may be in the process of forming a new moon, which has already been affectionately named by scientists as "Peggy".
The tiny, icy satellite has not been spotted directly, but a bulge in Saturn's A Ring — the brightest and outermost ring — suggests that the new arrival could soon join Saturn's already impressive family of 62 moons.
Saturn's rings are comprised almost entirely of ice with a trace amount of rocky material and stretch from 7,000km to 80,000km above the surface of Saturn's equator with a thickness varying from 10 metres to 1 kilometre.
The rings are not solid, but are made up of countless individual fragments ranging in size from particles as small as a grain of sand to boulder-like lumps metres across. It's thought that the rings act as a galactic nursery for the planet's many moons, with material gradually clumping together in orbit until it gathers enough momentum to separate.
The largest of Saturn's moons is Titan with a diameter of more than 5,000km and a mass nearly double that of our Moon. If Peggy does eventually grow up enough to leave home it would be tiny in comparison, perhaps only 0.5 miles in diameter.
Although many of Saturn's satellites eventually take on orbits many thousands of miles away from the planet, others stay closer to home, sculpting the rings by either collecting stray matter to sharpen their edges or carving out thin gaps like someone a giant snowball rolled through a snowy field.
However, Peggy's diminutive size suggests that Saturn's satellite-bearing days may soon be over, with each successive moon appearing smaller than the last as the supply of potentially moon-forming material is depleted.
The tiny, icy satellite has not been spotted directly, but a bulge in Saturn's A Ring — the brightest and outermost ring — suggests that the new arrival could soon join Saturn's already impressive family of 62 moons.
Saturn's rings are comprised almost entirely of ice with a trace amount of rocky material and stretch from 7,000km to 80,000km above the surface of Saturn's equator with a thickness varying from 10 metres to 1 kilometre.
The rings are not solid, but are made up of countless individual fragments ranging in size from particles as small as a grain of sand to boulder-like lumps metres across. It's thought that the rings act as a galactic nursery for the planet's many moons, with material gradually clumping together in orbit until it gathers enough momentum to separate.
The largest of Saturn's moons is Titan with a diameter of more than 5,000km and a mass nearly double that of our Moon. If Peggy does eventually grow up enough to leave home it would be tiny in comparison, perhaps only 0.5 miles in diameter.
Although many of Saturn's satellites eventually take on orbits many thousands of miles away from the planet, others stay closer to home, sculpting the rings by either collecting stray matter to sharpen their edges or carving out thin gaps like someone a giant snowball rolled through a snowy field.
However, Peggy's diminutive size suggests that Saturn's satellite-bearing days may soon be over, with each successive moon appearing smaller than the last as the supply of potentially moon-forming material is depleted.
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