GIVE ME A Ring SOMETIME depicts Saturn and her moons, to coincide (or in this case it might be more fitting to say collide!) with The Grand Finale of NASA's Cassini mission which began 13 years ago, to study the mighty planet and her famous rings, ending this week.
The Grand Finale is a rather romantic (if not violent and explosive) ending to the mission, set to take place this Thursday, which will see the Cassini probe be propelled directly into the planet, tearing it to shreds and melting it's components, which means that the giant body which it has studied for so long will also be the source of it's destruction too. Harsh but sort of beautiful!
With its intricate ring system and entourage of 62 orbiting moons, Saturn is one of the stars of the solar system (we're talking figuratively. It's not literally a star). GIVE ME A RING SOMETIME shows the Big 7 of these orbiters: from the closest to Saturn, Mimas through to the Iapetus, orbiting at a distance of 3.5 million km.
Mimas, the smallest of the major moons: Hematite Enceladus, the moon most likely to harbour life: Rose Quartz Tethys, composed almost entirely of water-ice: White Jade Dione, the fourth largest satellite of Saturn: White Jade Rhea, found to have an Oxygen atmosphere by Cassini in 2010: Rose Quartz Titan, the largest of the Saturn satellites: Tiger Eye Iapetus, with its two sides: Amber
Lined up in a orbital-formation, these gemstone moons are finished with a brass Saturn and a solo shining star. Suspended from a brass chain, the overall length measures 18" long.
Fun Fact! Titan, the largest of Saturn's moons (and the second largest moon in the solar system), makes up 96% of the mass orbiting the planet. And it is also Titan who will seal Cassini's fate, as it is it's gravitational pull that has been utilised to control all the probe's movement, including this final one which will chuck it into Saturn's atmosphere - farewell Cassini!
________
|