Cassini goes where no spacecraft has gone before. A death flight revealing the deepest secrets of Saturn. How the Universe Works s7e8: Cassini’s Final Secrets
During its lifetime, Cassini took multiple images of the Hexagon [pole]. ibid.
So if the rings didn’t form at the same time as Saturn, how did they form? And what’s keeping them in place? ibid.
Cassini revealed that geysers are blasting out liquid water. Enceladus is not a solid ball of ice. ibid.
Why are Titan’s dunes facing backwards? … These organic dunes contain the building blocks of life. ibid.
Saturn: A series of extraordinary moons. Almost a billion miles from the sun, these icy worlds could be home for life 2.0. With each new mission we get closer to unravelling the mystery of Saturn’s moons. How the Universe Works s11e1: The Moons of Saturn, Discovery 2023
October 2019: Astronomers discover 20 new moons orbiting the gas giant Saturn. ibid.
Plumes of water vapour shooting out from Enceladus at 800 miles per hour … from vents in the surface. ibid.
Saturn captured these moons but from where? ibid.
Titan may have formed from the material in the proto-planetary disc … It grew so large it developed a dense atmosphere. ibid.
Only two places with river and rain: Earth & Titan … The atmosphere is 50% thicker than Earth. ibid.
Saturn’s magnetic field boosts the chance of life on Titan. ibid.
Why the rings are so clean, almost pristine. ibid.
The scientific theory I like best is that the rings of Saturn are composed entirely of lost airline luggage. Mark Russell
In the night sky Saturn is easily visible to the unaided eye as a non-twinkling point of light. When viewed through even a small telescope, the planet, encircled by its magnificent rings, is arguably the most sublime object in the solar system. Bonnie Buratti, Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2014
Galileo in 1610 was the first to observe Saturn with a telescope. Although he saw a strangeness in Saturn’s appearance, the low resolution of his instrument did not allow him to discern the true nature of the planet’s rings. ibid.
My theory is that the Star of Bethlehem was Jupiter. And the event that Jupiter was in at the time was a coming together with Saturn [and] another planet in the constellation of Pisces. Dr David Hughes
Saturn’s rings were made of millions of icy rocks. In recognition of his [James Clerk Maxwell] work a division between the rings is known as the Maxwell Gap. Scotland’s Einstein: James Clerk Maxwell: The Man Who Changed the World, BBC 2017
One celestial object revealed to an Italian polymath [Galileo] that it was special. Secrets of the Solar System s1e7: The Celestial Beauty, PBS 2020
‘The Voyager mission had two components: Voyager I & II: each of them would get a gravity assist from Jupiter to go on to Saturn.’ ibid. scientist
Titan would become almost as important a destination as Saturn itself … ‘The only satellite in the solar system with a dense atmosphere.’ ibid.
‘There was methane present in the atmosphere of Titan … The possibility for lakes and oceans on the surface …’ ibid.
Cassini-Huygens: ‘The Huygens’ probe was actually designed to be able to float in liquid as well as land on a solid surface’ … In the summer of 2004 the spacecraft was finally approaching the Saturnian system … ‘Those images I’ll never forget them.’ ibid.
An enormous gas giant of 82 rings at present count orbiting on the outside and within the hundreds of rings of varying shades and colours. ibid.