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PASADENA, Calif. — The latest images from NASA’s Cassini spacecraft show faint, partial rings orbiting with two of Saturn’s small inner moons, scientists said Friday.
Cassini detected a partial ring orbiting with Anthe for the first time and confirmed the presence of another arch near Methone, scientists said.
The partial rings are likely made of material that micro- meteoroids knocked off the small moons. The two small moons orbit Saturn near a larger moon, Mimas.
Scientists think the larger moon’s gravitational influence could be what pulls the rings into arcs, said Nick Cooper, a Cassini imaging team associate from Queen Mary, University of London.
