In 1671, Giovanni Cassini gazed through a telescope at Saturn, and discovered a number of incredible wonders: the famed gap in its rings, detailed band structures in its atmosphere, and a number of ...

Two scientists propose an explanation for the bizarre ridge belting Saturn's moon Iapetus at the equator. At one time Iapetus itself may have had a satellite, created by a giant impact with another ...

Natural satellite systems present a large variety of orbital configurations in the solar system. While some are clearly the result of known processes, others still have largely unexplained ...

Saturn’s third-largest moon makes our list for three good reasons. The first was obvious to Italian/French astronomer Giovanni Domenico Cassini soon after he discovered Iapetus in 1671, as it hovered ...

In 1671, the famed astronomer Giovanni Cassini was observing Saturn when he found a new, faint moon orbiting it along its western side. As he attempted to follow its orbit, however, he found something ...

For centuries, people wondered how the leopard got its spots. The consensus is pretty solid that evolution played a major role. But it's only been five years since the arrival of high-resolution ...

Clear as black and white, Saturn's moon Iapetus is two-faced. One half is dark as coal and the other is as bright as fresh linens. Astronomers have puzzled over the stark difference since late in the ...

Saturn’s two-toned moon Iapetus stands 1.5′ north of the ringed planet early this morning, shining around 11th magnitude. Spending much of its time far from Saturn, Iapetus rotates in lockstep with ...

SAN FRANCISCO – The bizarre ring of mountains encircling Saturn's moon Iapetus may be the fractured remains of an icy sub-moon. Iapetus's spiky belt, which stretches all the way around the moon's ...

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works. Saturn certainly has some oddball moons and astronomers think they're close to explaining how a ...

Our solar system appears to be very stable. The orbits of planets, moons, comets, and other objects are predictable enough to ...