NASA's Cassini spacecraft has taken the clearest shots yet of Pan, a small inner moon of Saturn which measures just 35 km across.
Like two of its sister moons Atlas and Iapetus, Pan has an equatorial ridge made from of stray particles from Saturn's rings.
The exciting discovery has left observers searching for ways to describe the moon's appearance, offering suggestions like "space ravioli," "grenade" and "walnut." One of the nearest approximations appears to be pelmeni, a kind of Russian dumpling.
Space ravioli? No, it's Saturn's moon Pan. @CassiniSaturn images are closest ever taken of this odd shaped moon: https://t.co/iXw8VX0682 pic.twitter.com/9B15ZSdyZD
— NASA (@NASA) 9 марта 2017 г.
#Pan in the news today, after the awesome #Cassini closeups. For comparison, check out the 1990 discovery image, and its young discoverer. pic.twitter.com/T1hsVMMmXB
— Mark Showalter (@MarkRShowalter) 9 марта 2017 г.
A joint mission between NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian space agency, Agenzia Spaziale Italiana, the Cassini mission will end in September 2017 after 13 years in orbit around Saturn.
After it has completed the mission, Cassini will maneuver into the upper atmosphere of the gas giant planet and burn up like a meteor.
Scientists think that two of Saturn's moons, the icy Enceladus and methane-rich Titan, might be able to host some form of life. Cassini's fiery end eliminates any chance of the probe someday colliding with a moon and contaminating it with microbes from Earth that managed to survive the trip across the solar system.
