Monday, March 10, 2008

Ring Around a Moon?

From the AP:

PASADENA, Calif. (AP) — New observations by a spacecraft suggest Saturn's second-largest moon may be surrounded by rings.

If confirmed, it would the first time a ring system has been found around a moon.

The international Cassini spacecraft detected what appeared to be a large debris disk around the 950-mile-wide moon Rhea during a flyby in 2005. Scientists proposed that the halo likely contained particles ranging from the size of grains to boulders.

The finding was described in a study published in the March 7 issue of the journal Science.

I'm not sure why I find this so exciting. For what it's worth the Rings of Rhea already have their own Wikipedia entry.

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