Saturn Watch: Cassini finds two new moons and lightning
By Ron Cowen
The Cassini spacecraft has just begun its 4-year tour around Saturn, but the mission is already proving a tour de force.
An analysis of images taken by Cassini in early June, several weeks before the craft settled into orbit about Saturn, has revealed two tiny moons orbiting the ringed planet. Size estimates suggest that the orbs are the smallest ever found around Saturn, researchers reported this week. Earlier this month, other scientists described short-lived storms in Saturn’s atmosphere.