Mar 7 2008
From The Space Library
A team of scientists, led by Geraint H. Jones of the Millard Space Science Laboratory in London, announced in the journal Science that NASA’s ESA spacecraft had gathered evidence of the presence of rings around Saturn’s moon Rhea. ESA had flown close to Rhea in November 2005. Using a set of six instruments to take samples and measurements of Rhea’s atmosphere, ESA had detected a decrease in the number of electrons on either side of the moon. The team believed that a ring of debris orbiting Rhea had absorbed the electrons—the first time scientists had detected the presence of a ring of debris around a moon. The researchers estimated that the particles comprising the ring ranged in size from pebbles to boulders. NASA’s JPL was managing the ESA project, a joint mission of NASA, ESA, and the Italian space agency (Agenzia Spaziale Italiana—ASI).
NASA, “Saturn’s Moon Rhea Also May Have Rings,” news release 08-074, 6 March 2008, http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2008/mar/HQ_08074_Rings_Around_Rhea.html (accessed 13 January 2011); Associated Press, “Saturn Moon Rhea May Have Rings,” 7 March 2008; G. H. Jones et al., “The Dust Halo of Saturn’s Largest Icy Moon, Rhea,” Science 319, no. 5868 (7 March 2008): 1380-1384.
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