Originally Posted by lindabaker (Post 170642)

Very ambiguous explanation by NASA for the large object in the rings. Anybody want to venture a guess?

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/ca.../pia11672.html

Originally Posted by ries (Post 170646)

weather balloon.:original:

Originally Posted by NASA

These figures show the four propeller-shaped structures discovered in close-up images of Saturn’s A ring.
The propellers are about 5 kilometers (3 miles) long from tip to tip, and the radial offset (the "leading" dash is slightly closer to Saturn) is about 300 meters (1000 feet).
The figures were cropped from two original Cassini spacecraft narrow angle camera images (taken during Saturn orbit insertion on July 1, 2004) and magnified for visibility. The images were then reprojected so that orbital motion is to the left, and Saturn is up. The unseen moonlets lie in the center of each structure.
http://s3.amazonaws.com/ciclops_ir_2...mjNSLk1rwdY%3D

Originally Posted by NASA

It has since become a growing realization resulting from Cassini's exploration of Saturn that the objects forming Saturn's rings very likely span the full spectrum of sizes, from the smallest dust-sized ring particles to the ring-moons like Daphnis and 29-kilometer-wide Pan -- a significant advance in divining the origin of Saturn's rings.

The novel illumination geometry that accompanies equinox lowers the sun's angle to the ringplane, significantly darkens the rings, and causes out-of-plane structures to cast long shadows across the rings. (The rings have been brightened in this image to enhance visibility.) These scenes are possible only during the few months before and after Saturn's equinox which occurs only once in about 15 Earth years.

Originally Posted by ciclops.org

This image, taken as Saturn approaches its August 2009 equinox, shows a shadow being cast by a narrow, vertically extended feature in the F ring.

Imaging scientists are working to understand the origin of structures such as this one, but they think this image may show the shadow of an object on an inclined orbit which has punched through the F ring and dragged material along in its path.

The second (bottom) version of the image has been brightened to enhance the visibility of the ring and shadow. Background stars appear elongated in the image because of the camera's exposure time.

Originally Posted by happyhollergal

The book is titled Ringmakers of Saturn, and the author's name is Norman Bergrun.

Originally Posted by NASA

The shadow of the moon Janus dwarfs the shadow of Daphnis on Saturn's A ring in this image taken as the planet approached its August 2009 equinox.