Square moon of Saturn
Well, it's sort of square - or, more precisely, cubical, like a gigantic grain of salt. This moon of Saturn, called Epimetheus, is too small (71 miles across) for gravity to pull it into a spherical shape like Earth's moon. It shows several more-or-less flat facets, the result, perhaps, of impacts over the eons.
One commenter here insists this is no moon, but rather a Borg cube:
In any case, it is a remarkable photograph, sent back to Earth by NASA's Cassini spacecraft, which has been orbiting the planet and its moons for more than 3 1/2 years. You can read more about it here.
Saturn will soon be at opposition, rising in the east as the Sun sets in the west. It is already visible above the eastern horizon in the evening, a memorable sight, even in small telescopes.
Comments
That's no moon. Clearly the guys from NASA don't recognize a Borg cube when they see one!
Posted by: Linda | February 12, 2008 11:28 AM
Okay, so Epimetheus isn't a cube. It just looks like one from this angle. Here's a comment from the Cassini mission folks. Thanks to them for bursting my bubble:
"Hi Frank- Just a quick note about (this post) ... Epimetheus is not actually square-like in shape. It just has a kind of flat south polar area. See the shape model for Epimetheus on p.12 of this paper: http://ciclops.org/media/sp/2007/4691_10256_0.pdf It shows two side views and one top-down view ...
Regards,
Preston Dyches
Media Relations Coordinator
Cassini Imaging Central Laboratory for Operations (CICLOPS) Space Science Institute Boulder, Colo.
Posted by: frank roylance | February 12, 2008 2:21 PM
hi everyone i think that pic is lovely and i love the pic bye
Posted by: megan | February 18, 2008 11:21 AM