Mathematics – Logic
Scientific paper
Sep 2008
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2008dps....40.5604l&link_type=abstract
American Astronomical Society, DPS meeting #40, #56.04; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 40, p.500
Mathematics
Logic
Scientific paper
The Cassini-Huygens exploration of Saturn has completed its prime mission and is now entering a two-year phase called the Equinox Mission. During its four-year tour of Saturn, the Cassini Orbiter found intricate dynamical structures hidden below the haze of Saturn's atmosphere, a previously unseen inner radiation belt, unexpected "channel" structures in the B-ring where opacity changes dramatically over just a few kilometers, an active Enceladus with plumes that are the source of the E-ring and the engine supplying particles to the Saturnian magnetosphere, and a methane hydrologic cycle on Titan that is a remarkable analog of the Earth's. The epic descent of the Huygens probe to a landing on Titan's surface in 2005 provided vistas of dendritic channels presumably carved by methane in ice hills, and key data on nitrogen and noble gases that bespeak an active past in which ammonia was converted to the molecular nitrogen we see today.
Cassini's two year Equinox mission will allow for key scientific objectives to be pursued that follow from discoveries made during the prime mission. For example, the source of the Enceladus plumes may be either liquid water or warm ice, given what is known at present. Liquid water has important implications for the potential for life under Enceladus' surface, since both water and organic molecules are present in the plumes. Seven flybys will provide an opportunity to address this problem. For Titan, being able to observe the northern hemisphere lakes in sunlight affords the possibility of detecting ethane in the lakes, as has recently been done in the south, and of observing changes as the seasons proceed. An opportunity to see the rings at low solar incidence angle will allow the three-dimensional structure to be inferred. Seasonal and solar cycle changes in the Saturnian aurora are expected and will be tracked.
Lunine Jonathan I.
Matson Dennis L.
Pappalardo Robert T.
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