Enceladus is Hot, Hot

Previously this blog has reported ever-increasing estimates of the heat coming from Saturn's moon Enceladus. Our Cassini spacecraft has found that little moon's South Pole is a "hot spot" spewing gas and water vapour into Space. Enceladus is a laboratory in which contains clues to a tiny Black Hole. A central singularity would affect our understanding of many objects, including Earth.

Way back in June 2006, the estimates of Enceladus' heat output were around 1 gigawatt. This was reported in Here Be Dragons.

"In 2005 our Cassini spacecraft made some amazing discoveries about Saturn and her moons. The moon Enceladus has a volcanic "hot spot" centred on its South Pole. The pole, which should be the coldest region on the moon, is the hottest! This spot emits an enormous plume of vapour which maintains Saturn's E Ring. Old theories of radioactive decay or tidal stress can not explain this hot spot.

"Enceladus' core and behaviour can be modelled with a central singularity of 10^12 kg. This mass is typical for a primordial singularity. This object consumes only 2.8 kg per year and generates 10^9 watts of radiation. Water and other molecules near this centre are heated to a plasma. Electrons are stripped from atoms, and the resulting ions are drawn into circular orbits. The resulting current generates a magnetic field with the "positive" pole in the South.

"Electrons and positively charged ions spiral along magnetic field lines to form bipolar jets, the classic sign of a singularity. The Northern jet is composed of electrons which are absorbed by the moon's interior. More energetic ions of the Southern jet penetrate these layers to warm the South Pole. Escaping ions spiral into space, exactly as observed by Cassini."

By December 2007, estimates of the heat were up to 6 GW, AGU's Expanding Universe.

"Monday morning in Moscone South Room 102 Carolyn Porco began a series of talks on Saturn moons. Jennifer Meyer made the surprise assertion that Enceladus' 6 GW of heat can not be accounted for by tidal forces. The conventional estimate from tidal heating is only 0.12 GW. The old hypothesis or "radioactive decay" does not work for these icy moons. In desperation some researchers are conjecturing a meteorite strike at the South Pole, a true deus ex machina. Enceladus' core is an excellent place to consider a Black Hole."

Hooray for Jennifer Meyer, young and daring to question the orthodoxy! This month estimates of the heat are up to 15.8 gigawatts!
JPL Press Release:

"Heat output from the south polar region of Saturn's moon Enceladus is much greater than was previously thought possible, according to a new analysis of data collected by NASA's Cassini spacecraft. The study was published in the Journal of Geophysical Research on March 4.

"Data from Cassini's composite infrared spectrometer of Enceladus' south polar terrain, which is marked by linear fissures, indicate that the internal heat-generated power is about 15.8 gigawatts, approximately 2.6 times the power output of all the hot springs in the Yellowstone region, or comparable to 20 coal-fueled power stations."

15.8 gigawatts is far more than can be produced by radioactive decay, tidal forces, a meteorite strike, or any other theory so far considered. It is well within the range that could be produced by a tiny Black Hole. Saturn's little moon is a laboratory where we can observe the processes that created our Earth. Earth also generates internal heat, as if our planet were formed around a Black Hole. Earth also has a magnetic field, the existence of which baffled even Einstein. Rotation of the Black Hole would create a field that would not necessarily be aligned with Earth's geographic poles. These mysteries shoud make minds consider a Hole in the Earth.

Remembering 2010: Odyssey Two

Happy New Year!

The end of the year is a good time to remember 2010: ODYSSEY TWO. Arthur Clarke's sequel novel to 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY was published in January 1982, having already been snapped up by MGM for a movie. As we would expect from Clarke, the novel is full of cool sci fi innovations. We witness a spacecraft aerobrake into Jupiter orbit, a scientifically plausible sidetrip to Europa including life forms, and the planet Jupiter transformed into something wonderful. The film directed by Peter Hyams was released in 1984. While not a classic like Kubrick's 2001, the movie is still very entertaining as a harbinger of what may await us in the Solar System.

Many people decry that we have not reached the spacefaring heights of Clarke's fictional future. However, our Space probes have not done too badly. Today machines have orbited both Jupiter and Saturn. The 2001 movie Discovery ended up orbiting Jupiter; in the novel Jupiter was used for a gravitational boost to reach Saturn. In 2001 HAL the computer intended to continue Discovery's mission without humans aboard. Many of the wonders that might have been found by the fictional Discovery have been seen through automated eyes.

Despite limited resources, science has made many discoveries. Signs of extraterrestrial life may have been found in a Martian meteorite. Cassini at Saturn has found geysers on Enceladus and made many discoveries about the Rings. While we have not found monoliths on the Moon, an anomaly in the lunar orbital evolution is striking evidence for a changing speed of light. The Lunar Laser Ranging Experiment left behind by astronauts may Lack of resources has led scientists to use their ingenuity.

In both 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY and 2010: ODYSSEY TWO the Soviet Union is still a major power, and the Cold War is raging. During 2010 East and West nearly come to blows over a Central American crisis. Nuclear war was a great concern in 1984, so the filmmakers added a peaceful message. We should be thankful to have lived beyond the Cold War.

One way we have improved on 2001's universe is in the role of women. In 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY the only American women seen in Space are flight attendants and receptionists. A pair of Russian woman scientists make a cameo appearance in the Space Station lounge. In 2010: ODYSSEY TWO the Russian spacecraft has at least two women in the crew. One young woman provides some company to Heywood Floyd during the frightening aerobraking sequence. The Russian crew is led by the incomparable Helen Mirren (THE QUEEN, PRIME SUSPECT). In this alternate universe Russian women are leading in Space.

As of reality's 2010 only three Russian women have visited orbit: Valentina Tereshkova (1963), Svetlana Savitskaya (1982) and Yelena Kondakova (two flights, 1994-5 and 1997). The US, in contrast, has produced many woman astronauts. We have met female pilots and Shuttle commanders like Eileen Collins and Pam Melroy. Today NASA's astronaut office is headed by Peggy Whitson. America women have taken leadership positions in Space.

The role of Russian women in 2010 was a reflection of optimism. The Soviet Union had scored propaganda points by putting Tereshkova and Savitskaya ahead of American Sally Ride. Press stories promised women a future in the Soviet system that never materialized. Hopefully we will someday see more female cosmonauts.

In the 1980's the Soviet system appeared to be self-perpetuating. Arthur Clarke showed his sympathies by naming most of the 2010 cosmonauts after Soviet dissidents. The Russian spacecraft was powered by the Sakharov Drive, invented by the real-life physicist and dissident. Though Clarke let the Soviet Union survive into 2010, he was not a fan of Communism.

This has been a good time to review 2010: ODYSSEY TWO. We are always disappointed that humans have not reached the heights seen in the movies. However science and automated probes have made some unexpected discoveries, including signs of extraterrestrial life. Like the Monolith, seeds of life may even have arrived via meteorites from Space. Our Earth, especially in the role of women, has surpassed the society glimpsed in the movies. The world of 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY and beyond still inspires us to reach for the stars.

Prometheus Close Up

Can Black Holes exist hidden within small bodies. Mathematically, the answer is yes. From time to time this blog has wondered about Black Holes within our solar system. Our Cassini spacecraft has captured the closest views yet of Saturn's moon Prometheus. Prometheus and Pandora are called shepherd moons because they appear to hold F Ring in place.

At one time the Rings were thought to exist inside a mathematical "Roche Limit." Outside this limit moons could form, and inside they would break up tidally to form Ring fragments. Prometheus has a density of barely 0.27 g/cc, barely 1/4 that of liquid water. It is odd that objects with a density less than liquid exist inside the Roche Limit, within which liquid objects are not supposed to exist at all.

Prometheus leaves big gaps in the F Ring, causing particles to spiral toward the moon in tight strands. The spiralling strands are indicators of a magnetic field. Presence of a magnetic field from a tiny moon would be indication of a singularity. If Prometheus' 10^17 kg mass contained a 10^11 kg singularity, the moon would not collapse. Presence of a singularity would hold Prometheus together within Roche's Limit. The singularity would rotate within Prometheus, powering a magnetic field. There is far more in the Universe than meets the eye.

Sights of Saturn

Cassini returned this fantastic photo of Saturn's aurora superimposed on the North polar hexagon. The aurora was photographed at 4 microns on November 10, 2006 and the clouds at 5 microns on June 15, 2008. The aurora has inner and outer components caused by streams of inward and outward magnetic field lines. Concentric lines crowd in on one another near the pole, creating the hexagon. Saturn's poles are hot spots with the highest temperatures of the surface. Heat and polar magnetic fields are clues that Saturn may have formed around a Black Hole.

Sounds of Saturn

Radio emissions from Saturn recorded by our Cassini spacecraft and played as audio. The radio signals are concentrated at the poles, site of the mysterious hexagons. The eerie sounds make one wonder. Saturn's magnetic poles are closely aligned with the geographic poles. The radio emissions are byproducts of a dipolar magnetic field. Twin polar jets and a magnetic field are classic signs of a Black Hole.

Space physicist Donald Gurnett occupies James Van Allen's old chair at University of Iowa, studying electromagnetic phenomena. In 2004 Cassini flew very low over the Rings. The plasma wave signal from the Rings was recorded by Gurnett as "Music of the Rings." The music snaps and crackles as Cassini passes in and out of discrete radiation sources. Analyzing the signal, Gurnett concluded that the radiation sources create fountains spreading 45 degrees from the vertical. During his presentation for the American Geophysical Meeting, Gurnett quietly mentioned Black Holes. Though Gurnett is a highly respected physicist, his music has not reached a published paper.

Saturn's music gives clues beyond a printed paper. Her Rings show conditions simliar to our Solar System's formation. Mysteries of planetary formation could be answered if the planets were seeded by tiny Black Holes. These objects could still be around, acting as sources of mass and energy. The Saturn system would be a good place to hunt for singularities.

Heavy Rings

Cassini data and computer simulations have led scientists to conclude that Saturn's Rings are ancient, perhaps billions of years old. Previously they thought the Rings could not survive more than about 100 million years. We would then face the anthropic question of why the Rings are around at just the right time for humans to enjoy them, just like Earth is the centre of the Universe. The Rings are also much more massive than previously thought. More about this soon.

Thunder, Lightning and Vog

The Chaiten volcano in Chile continues to erupt, having forced the evacuation of thousands. Chaiten has also produced spectacular displays like this one. Lightning is powered by an excess of electric charge, which occurs in storms but also in volcanic clouds. We learned this in school, but what triggers the discharge? The tracks of lightning bolts resemble the shower of particles from cosmic rays. Since Earth is bathed constantly in cosmic rays, some have suggested that they trigger lightning bolts. If the frightening bursts of thunder should someday shown to result from cosmic rays, it is one more example of how are lives are intertwined with Space.

Our Cassini spacecraft has photographed a huge thunderstorm on Saturn that has raged for five months. Some theories suggest that Saturnian thunderstorms are connected with the mysterious "spokes" seen in the rings. Aided by a network of "amateur" astronomers, Cassini has also observed a wave pattern in the atmosphere. Temperatures vary at different latitudes in a hot-cold pattern. Sometimes the equator is wamer than surrounding latitudes and sometimes it is colder, switching at half-year intervals when the Sun is directly over the equator. Previously we have seen that Saturn's poles are hot spots, with the highest temperatures of the surface. Source of this hot-cold pattern is considered a mystery, but Saturn's interior is an excellent place to seek a Black Hole.

Though Hawaiian shield volcanoes are gentler than Chilean volcanoes, the eruption of Halema'uma'u Crater continues. It has left the nuisance of "Vog," or volcanic smog. Sulfur dioxide regularly issues from Kilauea, but with the eruption it has spread throughout the islands. Neighbours have complained about respiratory ailments. Certain plants, like eucalyptus and Asiatic lilies, are particularly harmed. Our coffee and macadamia nut trees appear unaffected. We are fortunate that our volcanoes are more nuisance than danger.

Volcanoes may be tied to cosmology. As longtime readers of this blog know, internal heat could be product of a tiny Black Hole in Earth's core. Human life exists in a very thin surface between Earth and Space. Cosmic rays rain from the heavens, causing showers of energetic particles in the atmosphere and possibly lightning discharges. Lightning storms have been observed on Jupiter and Saturn. At Chaiten, Earth's internal heat leads to spectacular lightning displays. Space and cosmology are part of our lives whether we like it or not.

Saturn Hot Spots

Full size mockup of Cassini spacecraft, with the Huygens probe attached.

Way back at the 2005 AGU meeting, we had data from Subaru that Saturn's South Pole is a "hot spot" with the warmest temperatures of the surface. Astronomers have long known that Saturn is a warm body, giving off 2.8 times as much heat as it receives from the Sun. Someone then speculated that Saturn's bulk hides the twin jets of an internal Black Hole. At the time, people thought the South Pole was warm because it is closer to the Sun. If that were true, then Saturn's equator would be the warmest region of all.

The January 4 issue of the journal Science reports that the North Pole, which doesn't face the Sun, is "hot" too. So much for being closer to the Sun! Something else inside Saturn is warming both poles. This ought to be considered good evidence for a Black Hole. Saturn's magnetic poles, which mark the singularity's spin axis, are nearly in line with the geographic poles. The Black Hole's jets, following magnetic field lines, travel outward toward the geographic poles.

The Northern jet is composed of electrons which spiral tightly around the field lines. The Southern jet is made of heavier ions, which travel around to the North and follow field lines back in. Earth's Van Allen belts work the same way, with concentric lanes of positive and negative particles travelling in opposite directions. At Saturn's North Pole, the incoming ion stream crowds in on the outgoing electrons. As nature shows us with the honeycomb, the best way to pack things together is in hexagons.

Paradoxically, could Earth's South Pole also be hot? A scientist's adventures in the southern hemisphere say very likely yes! Far from being solid ice, the Antarctic contains subsurface lakes like Vostok. The lakes are considered potential homes of life. To keep these lakes liquid, Earth's Antarctic ice sheet must contain sources of volcanic heat. The heat of Earth's volcanoes may also originate in a Black Hole.

The Universe contains wonders even beneath our feet. We know less about Earth's interior than we do about outer Space. At least telescopes can see into Space. Earth's mysterious interior could hold many surprises, even a Black Hole.

News From Saturn

This week more news comes from Saturn's Rings. Perhaps humans are drawn to their beauty for a reason. They could hold secrets to how our planets formed, and may even point to future sources of energy. In the December issue of Nature scientists report discovery of an enormous ring current surrounding Saturn. Most of the plasma comes from the south pole of Enceladus. The clump of charged particles rotating in sync with Saturn is still considered a mystery. Charged particles circling the planet every 10 hours 47 minutes are like those that would be produced by an orbiting Black Hole.

Wednesday at AGU, Cassini scientists claimed that Saturn's Rings are nearly old as the Solar System. Previously it was thought that the Rings would decay within 100 million years. We would then face the anthropic question of why the Rings exist in just the right time for humans to enjoy them. Later I had the good fortune to talk with Larry Esposito, who wrote the book on Ring observations. He believes the Rings are continually replenished and recycled by icy moonlets orbiting within. These unseen bodies are held together in spite of Roche's Limit by colliding and melting into each other. Normally bodies colliding at orbital velocities should not stick together. Perhaps something else is needed to seed their formation.

Friday C.D. Murray talked about F Ring objects and embedded moonlets. The "fans" in this Ring are evidence of embedded objects. The shepherd moon Prometheus has been observed to interact with F Ring, sometimes leaving strands or jets of materiel. The "jets" are interpreted as resulting from collisions. A big question remains why F Ring precesses in the first place. The Rings would be another place to look for a Black Holes.

Afterward M. Sremcevic talked about Propellor features in the Rings. These are located in a narrow 3000 km belt at 130,000 km from Saturn. The objects that cause the propellors must be very small, for anything bigger than 1 km would open a gap in the Rings. Their behaviour is incompatible with an accretion origin, so they are considered as possible fragments of a shattered moon. I asked and Sremcevic confirmed that his computer models treated the objects as point masses (like Black Holes).

Many, many mysteries remain about the Rings. Some of these mysteries would be explained by very tiny but massive objects hidden within. Thes objects would also give off radiation, like the clump of charged particles. Saturn's rings show conditions similiar to those which formed our Solar System. Perhaps Black Holes are closer than we think.

For more news, check out the new Carnival of Space!

Flying Saucers

Our Cassini spacecraft continues to make big discoveries. New data shows that moons Atlas and Pan are surrounded by huge "spare tires," giving them the shape of flying saucers. The CG image is based upon Cassini photos. Since the plane of these bulges coincides with the Ring plane, scientists have concluded that the moons are made of Ring materiel piling up along their equators. Their rotation could not stretch them into this shape, because each moon takes a 14-hour day to revolve. The strange shape offers clues to how these worlds or our Earth formed.

Atlas and Pan both orbit within Roche's Limit, a mathematical boundary within which moons are not supposed to form. Inside this limit, tidal forces from Saturn were thought to tear liquid objects apart. The ice crystals that make up the moons form loose "rubble piles" that behave as a liquid. Being made of ice crystals with many empty spaces in between, the moons have a density much less than liquid water. The spare tires show that they are continuing to attract particles. It is odd that objects with less density than liquid exist inside Roche's Limit, within which liquid objects are not supposed to form at all.

If Pan and other moons formed around singularities, these tiny holes would explain both their formation and shape. Pan's 10^{15} kg mass could easily contain a 10^{12} kg singularity without getting sucked up. Even if you were only 3 meters from such a tiny Black Hole, you would feel no more gravitational pull than you do in Manhattan. Pan orbits within the Encke Gap of A Ring. Outer and inner boundaries of the gap correspond to Lagrangian points in the Pan-Saturn system. Inside the gap particles will be drawn toward Pan, eventually colliding to build the spare tire.

Since Saturn's Rings contain conditions similiar to our Solar System's formation, this offers clues as to how other worlds formed. The moon Iapetus displays a strange ridge around its equator, which may have a similiar origin. Scientists have suggested sending probes to tunnel through Europa's kilometres of ice. A similiar probe could someday burrow into Atlas and possibly find a Black Hole.

H.G Wells' Invisible Man was finally discovered by tracks he left in snow. Saturn's Rings are literally a field of ice in which the tracks of invisible objects can be seen. If our Solar System contains tiny Black Holes, this is a good place to look. Singularities would explain how these small moons formed and stay together. Black Holes may be the missing link to how Earth and other worlds were created.

A Hole in the Rings

In the past year this blog has reported many discoveries about Saturn. A mysterious "hot spot" on Enceladus' South Pole resupplies the E Ring. Prometheus' interactions with F Ring include a mysterious stream of materiel connecting them. The B Ring is filled with tightly bound clumps of particles. Saturn's poles contain aurorae, a polar storm and enigmatic hexagon. There is far more here than meets the eye.

In the October 25 issue of NATURE, scientists report discovery of more "propellor" features. These are huge wakes, 10-20 km long, formed by unseen objects orbiting within the Rings. The objects are invisibly orbiting at a distance of about 130,000 km, occupying a band 3200 km wide. They have been interpreted as stadium-sized rocks, but the mass is also just right for tiny Black Holes. Space.com reports this as "More Strange Holes Found in Saturn's Rings."

Moons like Enceladus and Prometheus exist inside the "Roche Limit." It was once thought that this marked a demarcation line within which moons would be torn apart. Prometheus has one of the lowest densities of a solar system object, just 0.47 g/cm^3. That is less than 1/2 the density of liquid water. It is very odd that objects with less density than liquid should exist inside the Roche Limit, within which liquid objects are not supposed to exist.

H.G Wells' Invisible Man was finally discovered by tracks he left in snow. Saturn's Rings are literally a field of ice in which the tracks of invisible objects can be seen. If our Solar System contains tiny Black Holes, this is a good place to look. If these small moons contained singularities, it would explain how they formed and stay together. The Rings show conditions similiar to our Solar System's formation. Singularities may be the key to how Earth and the planets were created.

Arthur Clarke on Iapetus

On September 10 our Cassini spacecraft made the closest flyby yet of the mysterious moon Iapetus, passing within 1640 kilometres. Cassini previously flew by Iapetus in December 2004. This close flyby brought a video greeting from none other than Sir Arthur Clarke. In 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY (the novel, not the movie) Iapetus was location of the alien stargate.

(Just before receiving his knighthood, Sir Arthur was subject to ridiculous rumours about his personal life. Jealousy toward great astronomers may be a constant of the Universe. Since Clarke no longer leaves Sri Lanka, the Prince of Wales travelled there to present the honour personally.)

From Iapetus' discovery by Giovanni Cassini in 1671, astronomers have known that one side reflects many times more light than the other. In this closeup of the equatorial mountains, we see white snow alternating with some unknown darker materiel. Some process, possibly internal, may be restocking the dark stuff. Giovanni Cassini also deduced that one side of Iapetus always faces Saturn.

The moon has a slightly squashed shape, about 1496 km wide at the equator but only 1425 km measured pole-pole. Most mysterious, an immense ridge 13 km high extends around the equator. (Mauna Kea summit on Earth is only 10 km above the ocean floor.) This may be the result of a surrounding disk of matter that gradually fell to the surface. Because of its inclined orbit and distance from other bodies, Iapetus has a large Roche sphere to form a ring.

Recently a mysterious source of charged particles was discovered orbiting Saturn in a Clarke geosynchronous orbit. Iapetus' density is almost exactly that of frozen water, 1.083 gm/cc. This suggest that Iapetus is mostly ice with a few minerals mixed in. If the dark material coating Iapetus is renewed internally, that would indicate vulcanism and an internal source of heat. Iapetus' 1.8 x 10^{21} kg mass could easily contain a small singularity. Heat coming from within a small moon is one sign of a Black Hole.

The Day in Saturn

Estimated length of Saturn's day has been revised down to 10 hours 32 minutes. Finding the rotation period of a gas planet is quite difficult. The most recent Cassini estimate last year was 15 minutes longer. This measurement directly affects estimated wind speeds. With the longer estimate, winds appeared to travel hundreds of miles per hour in the same direction around the planet. The shorter day means that winds are much slower and travel both East and West. This corresponds with observations of East-West winds on Jupiter.

Previously in Hot Gas we saw that Saturn's jet streams are driven by rotating eddies originating deep within the atmosphere. Photo below was taken August 31. Transit of Mimas, 397 kilometres in diameter, shows how huge Saturn's spiral storms are. The new estimate of Saturn's day will be published in the September 7 issue of NATURE.

UPDATE: As we have seen before, scientists are not sure how planets began forming. Since the time of Pierre Laplace, most theories involve the Solar System condensing from a disk-shaped cloud of gas. Small planetesimals would have formed from gas particles. However, particles colliding at orbital velocity will not stick together gravitationally unless they have the mass of mountains. Something else is needed to start planet formation.

Scientists believe that the Big Bang created billions of tiny Black Holes. A typical Primordial singularity would have the mass of a mountain yet be smaller than a proton. If a few of these tiny holes collided with a gas cloud, they would immediately attract matter. These singulartiies were far too tiny to suck everything up or even burn hot as a star, but the tiny amount they did eat would generate a large amount of radiation. Eventually there would be a ball of matter with a hot centre, an infant planet. The Black Hole would still be there at the planet's centre.

Saturn and gas giant planets give off far more radiation than they receive from the Sun. This heat powers the many storms seen in the atmosphere. Saturn also has a strong magnetic field creating polar auroras and a mysterious hexagon. Both internal heat and the magnetic field could be produced by a hidden Black Hole. There is far more in the Universe than meets the eye.

This week Universe Today hosts the Carnival of Space!

Strange Phenomenon Orbiting Saturn

A mysterious clump of charged particles has been found orbiting Saturn. At the European Planetary Science Congress in Potsdam, astrophysicists from John Hopkins University presented this Cassini data. The donut of charged particles surrounding Saturn is bent out of shape. Some mysterious influence is affecting the ring current.

Planets with magnetic fields can trap charged particles to form electrified clouds. Earth's ring current appears during solar flares. As we saw months ago, the moon Enceladus keeps Saturn's vicinity supplied with charged particles. The ring current can bend Saturn's magnetic field.

The biggest mystery is a "clump" of charged particles. This phenomenon is between 485,000 and 1,000,000 kilometers from the surface. It orbits synchronously with the planet every 10 hours and 47 minutes. Astronomers are at a loss to explain its origin.

We can do some math here. A synchronous orbit with Saturn would be 529,000 km above the surface, right in the middle of the phenomenon. Extra particle velocity would push the clump into an oblong shape. Whatever the source of charged particles, it forms a natural synchronous satellite. This would be a good place to look for a Black Hole.

Update from Potsdam: Using our Keck II telescope atop Mauna Kea, astronomers have captured the first glare-free images of Uranus' rings. Their findings will appear in the August 24 issue of Nature. Data shows that the rings change. The innermost zeta ring has moved several thousand miles closer to Uranus than when it was first discovered. Though the narrow rings should require "shepherd moons" to keep them in place, few such moons have been seen. This might be another place to look for unseen objects. ESO Press Release

Milkshake Planets

This Cassini photo of Saturn was taken July 8, 2007 from a distance of 2.9 million kilometers. Both circular and linear cloud features are visible. Each pixel represents an area 17 kilometers across. Saturn is the planet with the lowest density in our Solar System, barely 0.7 g/cc or the density of a milkshake. In a giant tub of water the planet would easily float.

Lowell and Palomar Observatories have jointly discovered the largest known planet yet found, orbiting a star 1400 light-years away. The new world, called TrES-4, has a diameter 1.7 times that of Jupiter. Its density is half that of Saturn, or 1/3 the density of liquid water! The temperature of TrES-4 is estimated at 2300 degrees Celsius, so hot that the surface should boil off. Scientists are at a loss to explain how such a world can exist.

It is not widely mentioned in astronomy textbooks that scientists can't explain how ANY planets formed. The standard explanation is that planets condensed from gas clouds, but tiny particles colliding at orbital velocities simply will not stick together. Particles would need the mass of mountains to attract matter. Recently many "hot Jupiters" have been discovered orbiting so close to their stars that they should boil away.

The Big Bang created billions of tiny singularities, many with the mass of mountains. The solar system was probably started when some of these tiny Black Holes collided with gas clouds. If planets formed in this manner, presence of the Black Hole would hold the gas together and prevent it from boiling off. The Black Hole's gravity would allow the planet to have an extremely low density.

Writing this makes one very hungry. It will take a long time for all this to be accepted, but that is time to enjoy plenty of milkshakes!

New Moon

On May 30 our Cassini spacecraft observed S/2004 S7, the 60th known satellite of Saturn. This moon is approximately 2 km across and orbits 1.76 million km from Saturn. This orbit is between those of moons Mehone and Pallene, which were also discovered by Cassini. The Rings contain countless undiscovered objects, some of which are big enough to be called moons.

Photo below was taken June 5. The moon Pan leaves big wakes in the Encke Gap. The Gap's boundaries mark inner and outer Lagrangian points in the Pan-Saturn system. Particles within this gap are drawn into Pan's gravitational field. Presence of this moon maintains the Encke gap. Since the Rings contain thousands of such gaps, there are many more large undiscovered objects out there.

To the right moon Prometheus leaves big gaps in the F Ring. Prometheus and Pandora are called shepherd moons because they appear to hold F Ring in place. At one time the Rings were thought to exist inside a mathematical "Roche Limit." Outside this limit moons could exist, and inside they would break up tidally to form Ring fragments. Prometheus has a density of barely 0.27 g/cc, barely 1/4 that of liquid water. It is odd that objects with a density less than liquid exist inside the Roche Limit, within which liquid objects are not supposed to exist at all.

As seen here, Prometheus leaves big gaps in the F Ring, causing particles to spiral toward the moon. No one is sure about the nature of this interaction, but it is like that of a magnetic field. Presence of a magnetic field from a tiny moon would be indication of a singularity. If Prometheus' 10^17 kg mass contained a 10^11 kg singularity, the moon would not collapse. Presence of a singularity would hold Prometheus together despite being within Roche's Limit. The singularity would rotate within Prometheus, powering a magnetic field.

Today we have discovered 60 moons of Saturn. This solar system contains hindreds of unexplored worlds, many of which could be home to life. This photo could contain dozens of Black Holes. There is far more in the Universe than meets the eye.

Tethys and Dione Are Hot Too!

When this blog was starting last June, it predicted that Saturn's moons contained unseen sources of energy. Back in 2005 we saw Enceladus emitting a plume of ions from a source at its South pole. It was already known that Titan creates methane requiring an internal energy source. The June 14 issue of Nature reports that Tethys and Dione (pictured) also emit charged particles! Old theories can not explain why all these moons give off heat.

Saturn's moons and Rings contain conditions similiar to our Solar System's formation. Formation of planets was triggered when primordial singularities collided with orbiting gas. Tiny Black Holes were the seeds of planets and some moons. The singularities are still there, giving off radiation that warms the cores of these tiny moons. They also are resposible for the many clumps and gaps in the Rings.

Without replenishment, Saturn's Rings would decay within 100 million years. Then we would face the anthropic question of why they exist at just the right time for humans to view them. Thanks to the Cassini spacecraft, we have witnessed the E Ring being resupplied from Enceladus. This observation suggests that other, unseen satellites maintain the Rings. You heard it here first!

More on ions: New work suggests that Mars once had oceans. Back in 2000 analysis of a 1.2 billion year old Martian meteorite showed water-soluble ions like those from an ancient ocean. The Nahkla meteorite, which landed in Egypt during 1911, contained ions of sodium and chloride, just like the salt in seawater.

In the June 15 issue of SCIENCE, planet discoverer Michael Brown and grad student Emily Schaller report that dwarf planet 2003 UB313, now known as Eris, has a mass 27% greater than Pluto. The solar system is an exciting place. Dr. Pamela Gay is hosting this week's Carnival of Space.

The Genie Has Left the Bottle

Today's Cassini photo was taken from a distance of 1.58 million kilometres by the Visual Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (VIRMS). In the 2.3 microns (blue) reflected light from the Rings predominates. At 3.0 microns (green) Saturn herself reflects the most sunlight. At 5.1 microns we see that an immense amount of heat comes from deep within the planet. The wide range of latitudes for this radiation suggests a heat source in the planet's core, like an internal singularity.

Kea has an update on the controversy about VSL, or a Variable Speed of Light. Recently George Ellis offered a critique, and Motl echoed some of his statements. The latter referred to a "VSL Industry" growing up. Once completely out of consideration, this shows that a changing speed of light is now a subject of discussion. When an idea shows promise, others want on the bandwagon.

Someone also took time to dismiss some VSL theories as ad hoc. Though he has commented on GM=tc^3 before, this time he took particular pain to leave it out of the criticism. This fellow is not so bad, and most of his comments have been positive. It is not enough to say that c changes, for people have speculated about that since at least 1875. Just as gravity is needed to explain planetary orbits, some principle must predict a changing c.

Space and Time are equivalent. Scale R of the Universe is separation from a "Big Bang" singularity, age t multiplied by c. Gravitation then requires that GM=tc^3. When t was tiny, c was enormous and the Universe expanded like a Bang. As t increases that expansion slows due to gravitation. A child could figure this out, and the idea is slowly winning.

The Clumps Discovered

Cassini has discovered that Saturn's B Ring is made of tightly bound clumps of particles that are constantly colliding. Originally it was thought that the Rings were uniform clouds of small particles. This caused the mass of the system to be underestimated. The Rings may be 2-3 times as massive as previously thought. Particles in the B Ring must spend most of their time in clumps or moving from one clump to another.

Kea has posted yet another excellent picture of the Rings. Below we see Atlas orbiting outside A Ring, with tiny moon Daphnis inside the Keeler Gap. Daphnis is a bigger clump which keeps the Gap open. Since the Rings have many tiny gaps, this blog long ago predicted that the rings were full of massive objects. There is much more here than meets the eye.

H.G Wells' Invisible Man was finally discovered by tracks he left in snow. Saturn's Rings are literally a field of ice in which the tracks of invisible objects can be seen. If our Solar System contains tiny Black Holes, this is a good place to look. Presence of singularities would explain how these clumps form in the first place. The Rings show conditions similiar to our Solar System's formation. Singularities may be the key to how Earth and the planets were created.

Hot Gas

Though the Griffith Park fire is still burning nearby, we will try to focus on hot gas elsewhere. Astronomers have discovered the hottest gas giant yet found. Object HD 149026b orbits a star 279 light-years away in the constellation Hercules. It orbits in just 2.877 Earth-days, with an estimated temperature of 2040 degrees Celsius! The planet is so hot that it would have to absorb all the radiation from its star. HD 149026b was detected transiting its star in 2005 by "amateur" astronomer Ron Bissinger with his 14-inch Celestron.

Many "hot Jupiters" have been found orbiting close to stars. Present theories of planet formation can not explain them, for at these temperatures they would quickly boil away. If these planets formed around singularities, a Black Hole's gravity would keep them in one piece. Radiation from an internal singularity would also explain why HD 149026b is so hot.

Meanwhile, our Cassini spacecraft has discovered that Saturn's jet streams are driven by rotating eddies. Previously the reverse was assumed, that jet streams affected the eddies. These rotating stormlike features originate deep within Saturn's atmosphere, powered by unknown forces. Saturn and other gas giants give off far more energy than they receive from the Sun. This energy rises to the surface in storms and vortices, like those that would be produced by a Black Hole. There is more inside the planets than meets the eye.