Saturn

NASA has found a free particle accelerator floating in space

In early 2007, NASA’s Cassini spacecraft observed something extraordinary around Saturn. An unusually strong blast of solar wind sent subatomic particles crashing into the ringed planet’s magnetic field, giving rise to perhaps the most tremendous shock wave ever observed emanating from the planet. But newly announced findings reveal the biggest surprise was yet to come.…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez Feb 27

The mysterious propellers in Saturn’s rings

The Cassini spacecraft has imaged propeller-shaped features in Saturn’s rings. They are created by tiny moons in Saturn’s rings perturbing the ring particles. The two-bladed propeller-shaped feature near the bottom of image reveals the location of a tiny moonlet embedded in Saturn’s A ring. The feature is a result of the gravity of this moon…

io9 Ron Miller Feb 25

Historic View: Roaring Saturn I From Above

Just found this cool aerial photo about a Saturn I static test from the Sixties. AERIAL VIEW OF THE EAST TEST AREA DURING A SATURN I STATIC TEST. THIS PHOTO WAS TAKEN IN 1960 JUST PRIOR TO THE CHANGE OVER OF LAND, FACILITIES AND MISSION FROM ARMY/MICOM (MISSILE COMMAND) TO NASA/MSFC (MARSHALL SPACE FLIGHT CENTER).…

Tech News Attila Nagy Feb 20

A storm on Saturn so huge that it wrapped around the entire planet

Cassini has captured something NASA scientists have never seen before: A massive thunder-and-lightning storm that wrapped itself around Saturn creating a seamless ring around the planet. But when the lead portion of the storm finally caught up with itself, it began to lose its steam. Located at 33 degrees in the northern latitude, NASA first…

io9 George Dvorsky Feb 1

This #upgoerfive about Saturn and its moons is a truly beautiful thing

So there’s this wonderful little internet invention called The Up-Goer Five Text Editor. Designed by parasitologist Theo Sanderson, the application was inspired by a recent xkcd comic that attempts to explain NASA’s Saturn V rocket using only the thousand most common words in the English language (whereby “Saturn V Rocket” becomes “Up Goer Five”). Sanderson’s…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez Jan 18

The Hottest Space Porn of 2012

2012 was a remarkable year for jaw-dropping space imagery. Here, in no particular order, are our 22 favorite photos, videos, composites, timelapses and animations of the cosmos for the year. An Impossibly Beautiful Image of Earth Released in January of this year, NASA calls this update to the iconic “Blue Marble” photograph “the most amazing…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez Dec 24

The Dark Side of Saturn

Do not adjust your monitors. Saturn hasn’t suddenly changed color; it’s just that Cassini’s latest shot of the ringed planet was taken in such low-light conditions that you’re looking at more than just the visible part of the electromagnetic spectrum. This image was captured by Cassini while the satellite was in Saturn’s shadow. The sun…

Space & Spaceflight Jamie Condliffe Dec 20

Gorgeous illustrations of what it would look like to stroll along Titan’s methane rivers

Last week, the ESA released unprecedented images of a long, meandering river on the surface of Saturn’s moon Titan. Most likely the river flows with ethane or methane, and might be slightly viscous like oil. Now, space artist and io9 contributor Ron Miller has created these gorgeous up-close visions of the river from Titan’s surface.…

io9 Annalee Newitz Dec 19

This rare view of Saturn is among the most awe-inspiring images of the planet we’ve ever seen

Stop what you’re doing and look at this. Banded, backlit and beautiful, this verdant view of Saturn — just released by CICLOPS — is one of the most remarkable images of the planet ever captured by NASA’s Cassini spacecraft. And trust us, that’s saying something. Writes Carolyn Porco, Cassini Imaging Team Leader and Director, in…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez Dec 18

Inside NASA’s Mysterious Rubber Room

Ever since learning about the Rubber Room and Blast Room deep below launch Pad 39A at Kennedy Space Center I had been hopeful that I would one day get to photograph this mysterious remnant of the Apollo Program. I had seen very few photos of this room online and by talking to friends at KSC…

Space & Spaceflight Walter Scriptunas II Dec 17

The first-ever image of a massive river system on another world

This image was taken by the space probe Cassini, and shows what appears to be a massive river system on Saturn’s moon Titan. The European Space Agency reports that it flows 400 km across the cloudy moon’s surface, where it meets a large sea. This is most likely a river made of liquid ethane or…

io9 Annalee Newitz Dec 12

An absolutely incredible raw image of Saturn’s swirling north pole

Ok, are you ready for this? I know… WOW. This swirling maelstrom of clouds is what was seen over Saturn’s north pole yesterday, November 27, by NASA’s Cassini spacecraft. This is a raw image, acquired in polarized light, from a distance of 238,045 miles (383,097 kilometers)… all I did was remove some of the hot…

io9 Jason Major - Universe Today Nov 28

Stare Into the Eye of Saturn’s Terrifying Polar Vortex

If you think the weather looks set to be bad over the winter, thank yourself lucky you’re not caught up in Saturn’s polar vortex. This image, captured yesterday by Cassini, shows in great detail the swirling mess at the giant planet’s North pole. Snapped from a distance of 361,000 kilometers through an infrared filter, it…

Space & Spaceflight Jamie Condliffe Nov 28

And now for a little sense of scale

There’s no two ways about it: hurricane Sandy is huge. With its whirling winds at one point stretching a mind blowing 1,100 miles in diameter, it’s the most enormous Atlantic hurricane in recorded history. But Sandy – not to mention our entire planet – is still downright tiny compared to Saturn, and few images of…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez Oct 30

NASA detects extreme temperatures on Saturn after an enormous storm

In December 2010, Saturn was quickly overrun by a storm several times the size of Earth. For months the atmospheric outburst raged, growing and traveling so quickly that it soon managed to wrap itself around the entire northern hemisphere. To date, it is the most massive storm we’ve ever observed on the ringed planet. Now,…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez Oct 26

A geyser sprays water vapor from the surface of Saturn’s moon Enceladus

We’ve known for some time that geysers on Saturn’s moon Enceladus sprays water vapor that eventually finds its way to Saturn. But this striking image lets us see that water vapor spilling into space. https://gizmodo.com/the-moon-enceladus-rains-down-water-on-saturn-5824879 Michael Benson composited this image from image fragments sent by the Cassini spacecraft, just one of the incredible bits of…

io9 Lauren Davis Sep 16

Holy crap, these true-color photographs of Saturn are gorgeous

Every time you think you’ve seen all there is to see of Saturn and its moons, the Cassini imaging team goes ahead and blows that notion right out of the water, along with your mind. In the series of images featured below, Saturn and its giant moon, Titan, show their true, jaw-dropping colors. “For no…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez Aug 31

What the heck is going on with Saturn’s rings in this photograph?

NASA’s Cassini orbiter just beamed back its latest batch of images of Saturn and its various satellites. They are, as usual, gorgeous, but this stunning view of the planet — photographed from below the plane of its rings — really captured our attention. Our immediate reaction: what has become of the planet’s rings? A split…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez Aug 29

What’s the coolest way Saturn’s rings could get destroyed?

Saturn’s rings might be sitting pretty right now, but eventually they’re gonna go. And we’ve narrowed it down to three spectacular possible fates, the last of which might actually be pretty cool to watch. A lot of people have been moved by the sight of Saturn’s rings. Galileo described them, when he first saw them,…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell Aug 24

Using the Roche Limit to Make Earth a Ringed Planet

Are you sick of Saturn lording over the planets with its fancy rings and its Cassini Division? Do you want to give Earth a little style and pizzazz? Let’s take a look at how, if we like it, we might be able to (and I apologize for this) put a ring on it. Image by…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell Aug 2

NASA has found a free particle accelerator floating in space

The mysterious propellers in Saturn’s rings

Historic View: Roaring Saturn I From Above

A storm on Saturn so huge that it wrapped around the entire planet

This #upgoerfive about Saturn and its moons is a truly beautiful thing

The Hottest Space Porn of 2012

The Dark Side of Saturn

Gorgeous illustrations of what it would look like to stroll along Titan’s methane rivers

This rare view of Saturn is among the most awe-inspiring images of the planet we’ve ever seen

Inside NASA’s Mysterious Rubber Room

The first-ever image of a massive river system on another world

An absolutely incredible raw image of Saturn’s swirling north pole

Stare Into the Eye of Saturn’s Terrifying Polar Vortex

And now for a little sense of scale

NASA detects extreme temperatures on Saturn after an enormous storm

A geyser sprays water vapor from the surface of Saturn’s moon Enceladus

Holy crap, these true-color photographs of Saturn are gorgeous

What the heck is going on with Saturn’s rings in this photograph?

What’s the coolest way Saturn’s rings could get destroyed?

Using the Roche Limit to Make Earth a Ringed Planet

Twitter Just Can’t Stop Leaking Movies

The ‘Mass Effect’ Show is Getting Rewritten to Get Greenlit

See the Early Stages of How ‘Project Hail Mary’ Brought Rocky to Life

‘Cognitive Surrender’ Is a New and Useful Term for How AI Melts Brains

HP Omen Max 45L Review: 4K60 Gaming Has Never Been So Easy

Marshall Acton III Home Speaker Drops to a Record Low, the Deal Countdown Has Already Started

Ecovacs Winbot W3 Omni Review: Window Cleaning Robots Have a Long Way to Go

I’m Worried About the Helpless AI Disruptors of the Future

AirPods Max 2 vs. Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones (2nd Gen): Which ANC Headphones Win?

The Best Gadgets of March 2026

AirPods Max 2 Review: Still Ridiculously Expensive and Ridiculously Nice

DJI Osmo 360 Review: The Best 360 Camera for the DJI-Pilled

Aqara Smart Lock U400 Review: Hands-free Unlocking at Its Best

MSI Prestige 14 Flip AI+ Review: A Solid 2-in-1 Laptop With Some Glaring Flaws

Sonos Play Review: Call It a Comeback

Sonos Era 100 SL Review: The Cheapest Way Into Wired Sonos Sound

Let us help find what you are looking for...