Saturn’s Moons

Saturn’s Moons Saturn has several large moons which all orbit in the same direction Saturn spins and in the same plane as its equator and rings. At least 48 more smaller moons orbit farther out on more eccentric orbits. The exact number is hard to say as tens of “moonlets” orbiting in the rings act as many shepherd moons create many mini gaps

Until 1966 only nine of Saturn’s Moons had been spotted…they are pictured below

Titan Saturn’s largest moon Titan is also the second largest in the solar system about the size of Mercury The cool temperatures keep gas moving slow enough that Titan gravity holds onto a mostly Nitrogen atmosphere Hydrocarbons Methane and Ethane form clouds, rain, rivers, & lakes. Water ice is so hard its ice crystals are like sand and form dunes. The atmospheric chemistry on Titan is like early earth, life might have developed…if it weren’t so cold.

Iapetus Iapetus is the third-largest of Saturn's moons and most distant of Saturn's large moons, ] Iapetus has an unusual “two-toned surface” It is tidally locked like our moon Its leading hemisphere is pitch-black and its trailing hemisphere is almost as bright as fresh snow. The dark area is carbonaceous. Ice from the dark area evaporates and then falls as snow making the rest a bright white.

Enceladus The Moon Enceladus is a smaller colder version of Europa We have been lucky enough to get pictures of geysers erupting on Enceladus

Mimas Mimas is the Shepard Moon that is responsible for Cassini’s Gap It has one large crater making it appear similar to a certain famous artificial moon