New Moon Discovered Hidden in Saturn's Ring

Scientists at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory have discovered a previously unknown moon hidden in the outer ring of Saturn.

Only a third of a mile wide, the new moonlet was spotted by the Cassini spacecraft currently orbiting Saturn. The moon was found buried within the outer G ring, and the moon is believed to have played a major part in that ring's formation. The size of the moon is too small to be resolved directly by Cassini's cameras, but its size was estimated by comparing its brightness to other moons of Saturn. Prior to this discovery, the G ring was the only ring of Saturn not associated with a moon.

The newly discovered moon may not be alone within the G ring, as previous measurements by Cassini hint at the existence of many bodies less than several hundred feet in diameter. Collisions among these moonlets is believed to create the smaller dust and ice particles that make up the ring arc.

This discovery was announced on March 3rd by the International Astronomical Union.

Source: ScienceDaily