30 March 2010
Holy Cow! Is Mimas a Pac-Man Death Star??
Posted by Dan Satterfield
Image from NASA's Cassini Spacecraft. The IR Image on right is showing temperatures..This is NOT what was expected!
The image on the right is a temperature map of Saturn’s moon MIMAS. The big crater in it is called the Herschel Crater. The image below explains more:
Image on the left is what NASA expected to see. Click for more info fro NASA and larger version.
So what is causing this??
THEY DON’T KNOW…
Yet!
Dan Satterfield has worked as an on air meteorologist for 32 years in Oklahoma, Florida and Alabama. Forecasting weather is Dan's job, but all of Earth Science is his passion. This journal is where Dan writes about things he has too little time for on air. Dan blogs about peer-reviewed Earth science for Junior High level audiences and up.
Hello Dan,
I believe heat signature is being cause from friction of gravity from the pull of Saturn and the added light reflex causing additional friction from Saturn rings. It is like a tire rolling across the the highway; the more friction it has the greater the heat becomes. It is similar to placing a pot of beans in a open flames. The flames shoot up the sides of the pot.
David