Media Information

 
 
 
Collection:
NASA Planetary Photo Journal Collection
Title:
Hubble Discovery Image of New Moon Orbiting Saturn
Original Caption Released with Image:
This four-picture sequence (spanning 30 minutes) shows one of four new moons discovered by the Hubble Space Telescope, in images taken of Saturn on May 22, 1995, when Saturn's rings were tilted edge-on to Earth.

Identified as S/1995 S3, the moon appears as an elongated white spot near the center of each image. The new moon lies just outside Saturn's outermost "F" ring and is no bigger than about 15 miles across. The brighter object to the left is the moon Epimetheus, which was discovered during the ring-plane crossing of 1966. Both moons change position from frame to frame because they are orbiting the planet.

Saturn appears as a bright white disk at far right, and the edge-on rings extend diagonally to the upper left. To the left of the vertical line, each image has been processed to remove residual light from the rings and accentuate any faint satellites orbiting near the rings. The long observing times necessary to detect the faint satellites have resulted in Saturn's bright, overexposed appearance.

Saturn ring plane crossings happen only once every 15 years, and historically have given astronomers an opportunity to discover new satellites that are normally lost in the glare of the planet's bright ring system.

The Wide Field/Planetary Camera 2 was developed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and managed by the Goddard Spaced Flight Center for NASA's Office of Space Science.

This image and other images and data received from the Hubble Space Telescope are posted on the World Wide Web on the Space Telescope Science Institute home page at URL http://oposite.stsc…
Addition Date:
1998-08-02
Produced By:
Space Telescope Science Institute
Mission:
Hubble Space Telescope (HST)
Spacecraft:
Hubble Space Telescope
Target Name:
Saturn
Is a satellite of:
Sol (our sun)
Instrument:
Wide Field Planetary Camera 2
Product Size:
550 samples x 850 lines
Primary Data Set:
Space Telescope Science Institute
Producer ID:
STSCI-PRC95-29
facet_what:
Sun
facet_what:
Moon
facet_what:
Earth
facet_what:
Saturn
facet_what:
Opportunity
facet_what:
Camera 2
facet_what:
Wide Field Planetary Camera 2
facet_what:
Hubble Space Telescope (HST)
facet_where:
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
facet_where:
Saturn
facet_where:
Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)
facet_when:
1966
facet_when:
May 22, 1995
facet_when_year:
1995
facet_when_year:
1966
Image #:
PIA01274
UID:
SPD-PHOTJ-PIA01274
orignial url:

Hubble Discovery Image of New Moon Orbiting Saturn