Quantcast
ZME Science
  • CoronavirusNEW
  • News
  • Environment
    • Climate
    • Animals
    • Renewable Energy
    • Eco tips
    • Environmental Issues
    • Green Living
  • Health
    • Alternative Medicine
    • Anatomy
    • Diseases
    • Genetics
    • Mind & Brain
    • Nutrition
  • Future
  • Space
  • Feature
    • Feature Post
    • Art
    • Great Pics
    • Design
    • Fossil Friday
    • AstroPicture
    • GeoPicture
    • Did you know?
    • Offbeat
  • More
    • About
    • The Team
    • Advertise
    • Contribute
    • Our stance on climate change
    • Privacy Policy
    • Contact
No Result
View All Result
ZME Science

No Result
View All Result
ZME Science
No Result
View All Result
Home Space Astrophysics

Oxygen atmosphere on Saturn’s moon, Dione

Mihai Andrei by Mihai Andrei
March 5, 2012
in Astrophysics, Science, Space

It’s been less than a month since we published the last thing about the Cassini probe, and the amazing spacecraft has done it again; this time it detected a thin, oxygen atmosphere, on a moon of Saturn – Dione. The study was published in the Geophysical Research Letters

At 1122 km in diameter, Dione is the 15th largest moon, and the last significant one – larger than all the rest of the planet’s moons put together. Since its formation, Dione has definitely undergone some interesting geological processes, as pictures shown again by Cassini in 2004 revealed what are believed to be ice cliffs created by tectonic fractures, hundreds of meters tall or even more. Some believe that ice volcanism also played a role in the process of shaping the planet.

Now, more recently, the Cassini probe signaled the existence of an oxygen atmosphere in the planet, but don’t get too excited about moving there: the atmosphere is three trillion times thinner than on the surface of Earth – pretty much what you’d expect to see some 300 km above ground here. Still, that’s enough to classify it as an atmosphere, and astronomers are pretty excited about this find, not necessarily in itself, but in the implications it carries.

We now know that Dione, in addition to Saturn’s rings and the moon Rhea, is a source of oxygen molecules,” Cassini team member Robert Tokar of the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, who led the new study, said in a statement. “This shows that molecular oxygen is actually common in the Saturn system and reinforces that it can come from a process that doesn’t involve life.”

The oxygen on Dione may be created by solar photons or high-energy particles that bombard the moon’s icy surface, kicking up oxygen atoms in the process. Another theory is that the previous geological events supplied the necessary oxygen for this atmosphere. Either way, this discovery came as quite a shock to many.

Get more science news like this...

Join the ZME newsletter for amazing science news, features, and exclusive scoops. More than 40,000 subscribers can't be wrong.

   

“Scientists weren’t even sure Dione would be big enough to hang on to an exosphere, but this new research shows that Dione is even more interesting than we previously thought,” said Amanda Hendrix, the deputy project scientist for Cassini at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., who did not participate in Tokar’s study. “Scientists are now digging through Cassini data on Dione to look at this moon in more detail.”

Tags: atmospherecassinidionefaultoxygen atmospheresaturntectonic
Mihai Andrei

Mihai Andrei

Andrei's background is in geophysics, and he's been fascinated by it ever since he was a child. Feeling that there is a gap between scientists and the general audience, he started ZME Science -- and the results are what you see today.

Follow ZME on social media

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
  • Coronavirus
  • News
  • Environment
  • Health
  • Future
  • Space
  • Feature
  • More

© 2007-2019 ZME Science - Not exactly rocket science. All Rights Reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • Coronavirus
  • News
  • Environment
    • Climate
    • Animals
    • Renewable Energy
    • Eco tips
    • Environmental Issues
    • Green Living
  • Health
    • Alternative Medicine
    • Anatomy
    • Diseases
    • Genetics
    • Mind & Brain
    • Nutrition
  • Future
  • Space
  • Feature
    • Feature Post
    • Art
    • Great Pics
    • Design
    • Fossil Friday
    • AstroPicture
    • GeoPicture
    • Did you know?
    • Offbeat
  • More
    • About
    • The Team
    • Advertise
    • Contribute
    • Our stance on climate change
    • Privacy Policy
    • Contact

© 2007-2019 ZME Science - Not exactly rocket science. All Rights Reserved.