Mooning Around Saturn Trivia Quiz

Answer:

Titan:
If any moon in the solar system resembles a planet, it's Saturn's largest moon, Titan, because it's the only moon known to have a dense atmosphere, composed mainly of nitrogen. Titan also features lakes, rivers and seas, although they're filled with liquid methane and ethane rather than water, which makes it one of the most Earth-like alien worlds yet known to exist.

Enceladus:
Despite being quite small, Enceladus has become one of the most important objects in the search for extraterrestrial life. Vast geysers of water vapour and ice erupt from fractures near its south pole, revealing the presence of a global ocean hidden beneath the icy crust. This makes Enceladus a leading candidate in the search for life beyond Earth.

Mimas:
A single enormous impact crater gives Mimas a striking resemblance to the Death Star from the 'Star Wars' films. The crater, known as Herschel, dominates one side of the moon and was formed by a collision that almost shattered it. Mimas was discovered by William Herschel in 1789.

Dione:
Dione is one of Saturn's mid-sized moons. It's distinguished by bright ice cliffs and mysterious wispy markings that record ancient geological activity. Although it's heavily cratered, evidence suggests the moon may conceal a liquid ocean beneath its frozen surface.

Rhea:
Rhea has been scarred by countless impacts over billions of years, which has preserved a record of the solar system's distant past. It's Saturn's second-largest moon and has a very thin exosphere containing oxygen and carbon dioxide. It's one of the few moons with an atmosphere-like envelope.

Tethys:
Two striking landmarks dominate the icy landscape of Tethys. One is Odysseus, a giant impact crater, while the other is Ithaca Chasma, an enormous canyon stretching most of the way around the moon. Tethys is composed almost entirely of water ice and is one of the least dense moons in the solar system.

Iapetus:
One hemisphere of Iapetus gleams brightly while the other is almost black, which creates one of the starkest contrasts found anywhere in the solar system. This unusual appearance puzzled astronomers for centuries after Giovanni Cassini discovered the moon in 1671. The dark material is thought to come from dust accumulated over time.

Hyperion:
Hyperion looks like nothing else among Saturn's large moons, as it has a sponge-like surface and a tumbling rotation. Its oddly shaped body is covered with deep craters created by billions of years of impacts. It was the first moon discovered to rotate unpredictably rather than keeping the same face toward its planet.

Phoebe:
Phoebe is different from most of Saturn's moons because it travels in a retrograde orbit, moving opposite to the planet's rotation. Astronomers believe it's a captured object from the distant Kuiper Belt rather than a moon that formed alongside Saturn. Its dark surface preserves material dating back to the early solar system.

Janus:
Janus is involved in one of the most unusual orbital arrangements known. It shares nearly the same orbit as Epimetheus, and the two moons exchange orbital energy whenever they approach each other. This causes them to swap positions every four years without ever colliding.

Daphnis:
Daphnis orbits within the Keeler Gap, a narrow gap near the outer edge of Saturn's A ring. As it moves, its gravity pulls ring particles into towering waves that rise above and below the ring plane. These waves can be seen clearly in images captured by the Cassini spacecraft, casting long shadows across the rings when sunlight hits them at a low angle.

Helene:
Rather than orbiting Saturn independently, Helene occupies a stable gravitational location known, as a Lagrange point, within Dione's orbit. This allows it to permanently lead the larger moon by 60 degrees as they travel around Saturn together.

Prometheus:
Prometheus acts as one of Saturn's shepherd moons, as it helps to shape and maintain the narrow F ring. Its gravitational influence creates gaps, streamers and other structures within the ring system, making it an important shaping force within Saturn's complex orbital environment.

Pandora:
Pandora helps confine Saturn's delicate F ring through its gravitational pull, as it works in tandem with Prometheus. Its irregular shape reflects a long history of impacts and interactions within the ring system. The moon was discovered during the Voyager 1 mission in 1980.

Atlas:
Atlas is one of Saturn's smaller moons. It's known for its unusual flying-saucer shape, which is caused by a broad ridge of material wrapped around its equator. It orbits close to Saturn's rings and helps maintain the outer edge of the A ring.

Io, Europa, Ganymede, Callisto, Amalthea, Himalia and Metis don't orbit Saturn. They're all moons of Jupiter.