Planet Uranus has a rare blue ring - Space.com - MSNBC.com: "The recently discovered outermost ring of gas giant Uranus is a bright blue, scientists said Thursday.
Saturn is the only other planet with an identified blue outer ring in the solar system. Both blue rings are associated with small moons; Saturn with Enceladus and Uranus with Mab.
'The outer ring of Saturn is blue and has Enceladus right smack at its brightest spot, and Uranus is strikingly similar, with its blue ring right on top of Mab's orbit,' said Imke de Pater, professor of astronomy at the University of California at Berkeley."
2 comments:
Inasmuch as the inner, ruddier rings of Saturn are suspected of being the oldest, perhaps these small satellites actually are responsible for forming the entirety of the rings somehow...the ineptly titled "Voyage to the Mystery Moon" episode of NOVA (and, presumably, HORIZON in Britain) that was transmitted on Tuesday sure was a handsome thing, between the animations and actual photos/imagery from Cassini/Huygens...catch it when you can, particularly on PBS's HD network DT2 if you have a handy affiliate and the equipment (any equipment puns here would be about on par with Uranus puns elsewhere...)
Yeah, I couldn't resist. Thanks for the tip on the NOVA episode. I do have HD TV, and I'll be looking for it.
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