Astronomy:Chrysalis (hypothetical moon)
In the astronomy of the Solar System, Chrysalis is a hypothetical moon of Saturn, named in 2022 by scientists of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology using data from the Cassini–Huygens mission.[1] The moon would have been torn apart by Saturn's tidal forces, somewhere between 200 and 100 million years ago. Up to 99% of the moon's mass would have been swallowed by Saturn, with the remaining 1% forming the rings of Saturn.[2] The origin of Saturn's rings from the destruction of a satellite has been previously proposed by other authors.[3] Chrysalis was hypothesized to be similar in size and mass to Iapetus, with a similar water-ice composition, and to have orbited somewhere between Iapetus and Titan. Its orbit around Saturn may have been degraded as a result of Titan's orbit expanding due to interactions of the Saturn system with a resonance with Neptune, resulting in the increasing eccentricity of Chrysalis's orbit until being torn apart during a close encounter with Saturn by its parent planet's gravitational force.[4]
The hypothetical moon was named after the pupa stage of a butterfly, with the rings of Saturn representing its emergence from the chrysalis.[4]
See also
References
- ↑ "Saturn's rings could have come from a destroyed moon named Chrysalis". 15 September 2022. https://www.newscientist.com/article/2337884-saturns-rings-could-have-come-from-a-destroyed-moon-named-chrysalis/.
- ↑ Wisdom, Jack; Dbouk, Rola; Militzer, Burkhard; Hubbard, William B.; Nimmo, Francis; Downey, Brynna G.; French, Richard G. (September 16, 2022). "Loss of a satellite could explain Saturn's obliquity and young rings". Science 377 (6612): 1285–1289. doi:10.1126/science.abn1234. PMID 36107998. Bibcode: 2022Sci...377.1285W. https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abn1234.
- ↑ Charnoz, Sébastien; Morbidelli, Alessandro; Dones, Luke; Salmon, Julien (February 2009). "Did Saturn's rings form during the Late Heavy Bombardment?". Icarus 199 (2): 413–428. doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2008.10.019. ISSN 0019-1035. Bibcode: 2009Icar..199..413C. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.icarus.2008.10.019.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Dunham, Will (15 September 2022). "Violent death of moon Chrysalis may have spawned Saturn's rings" (in en). Reuters. https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/science/violent-death-moon-chrysalis-may-have-spawned-saturns-rings-2022-09-15/.
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