ESA Science & Technology - News Archive
News Archive
News Archive
Using data from the international Cassini-Huygens mission to Saturn and Titan, scientists have found that there are two distinct types of craters on Saturn's largest moon Titan that are still being shaped by erosion.
Published: 29 October 2020
Fifteen years ago today, ESA's Huygens probe made history when it descended to the surface of Saturn's moon Titan and became the first probe to successfully land on another world in the outer Solar System. However, during its descent, the probe began spinning the wrong way – and recent tests now reveal why.
Published: 14 January 2020
Scientists analysing data from the Cassini mission have found evidence of light, soluble and reactive organic molecules in the ice grains ejected by Saturn's icy moon Enceladus, providing another important piece of evidence to investigate its potential habitability.
Published: 2 October 2019
Using observations from the international Cassini spacecraft, scientists have explored the ring-like mounds that wrap around some of the pools found at the poles of Saturn's largest moon, Titan. The study reveals more about how these features formed.
Published: 17 July 2019
Data from the international Cassini spacecraft that explored Saturn and its moons between 2004 and 2017 has revealed what appear to be giant dust storms in equatorial regions of Titan.
Published: 24 September 2018
The long-lived international Cassini mission has revealed a surprising feature emerging at Saturn's northern pole as it nears summertime: a warming, high-altitude vortex with a hexagonal shape, akin to the famous hexagon seen deeper down in Saturn's clouds.
Published: 4 September 2018
Data from the international Cassini spacecraft have revealed complex organic molecules originating from Saturn's icy moon Enceladus, strengthening the idea that this ocean-world hosts conditions suitable for life.
Published: 27 June 2018
Data from the international Cassini mission has revealed that a phenomenon called magnetic reconnection can occur on the dayside of Saturn, within the planet's magnetic environment.
Published: 5 June 2018
Immense northern storms on Saturn can disturb atmospheric patterns at the planet's equator, finds the international Cassini mission. This effect is also seen in Earth's atmosphere, suggesting the two planets are more alike than previously thought.
Published: 13 December 2017
Enough heat to power hydrothermal activity inside Saturn's ocean moon Enceladus for billions of years could be generated through tidal friction if the moon has a highly porous core, a new study finds, working in favour of the moon as a potentially habitable world.
Published: 6 November 2017
The international Cassini mission has concluded its remarkable exploration of the Saturnian system in spectacular style, by plunging into the gas planet's atmosphere.
Published: 15 September 2017
The international Cassini mission reaches its dramatic finale this Friday by plunging into Saturn's atmosphere, concluding 13 years of exploration around the ringed planet.
Published: 12 September 2017
The international Cassini-Huygens mission has explored Saturn and its rings and moons for 13 years, and will conclude by plunging into the planet's atmosphere next week. This article highlights some of the mission's exciting discoveries led by European teams.
Published: 6 September 2017
The international Cassini-Huygens mission has made a surprising detection of a molecule that is instrumental in the production of complex organics within the hazy atmosphere of Saturn's moon Titan.
Published: 26 July 2017
After nearly 13 years in orbit around Saturn, the international Cassini-Huygens mission is about to begin its final chapter: the spacecraft will perform a series of daring dives between the planet and its rings, leading to a dramatic final plunge into Saturn's atmosphere on 15 September.
Published: 25 April 2017
Over the past decade, the international Cassini mission has revealed intense activity at the southern pole of Saturn's icy moon, Enceladus, with warm fractures venting water-rich jets that hint at an underground sea. A new study, based on microwave observations of this region, shows that the moon is warmer than expected just a few metres below...
Published: 13 March 2017
This week, ESA deep-space radio dishes on two continents are listening for signals from the international Cassini spacecraft, now on its final tour of Saturn.
Published: 13 January 2017
After a two-and-a-half-hour descent, the metallic, saucer-shaped spacecraft came to rest with a thud on a dark floodplain covered in cobbles of water ice, in temperatures hundreds of degrees below freezing.
Published: 11 January 2017
New scenes from a frigid alien landscape are coming to light in recent radar images of Saturn's largest moon, Titan, from the international Cassini spacecraft.
Published: 8 September 2016
Saturn's largest moon is covered in seas and lakes of liquid hydrocarbons – and one sea has now been found to be filled with pure methane, with a seabed covered by a sludge of organic-rich material, and possibly surrounded by wetlands.
Published: 26 April 2016
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