Muse September 2017

BY ELIZABETH PRESTON

Muse

News

One of

these stories is

FALSE. Can you

spot which one?

The answer is on

page 39.

text © 2017 by Elizabeth Preston

UP IN SPACE

Is This Moon

Making You

Hungry?

A

NASA spacecraft called Cassini has been

orbiting Saturn since 2004 and helping scientists

learn about the planet. It’s now wrapping up its

i nal mission. h e probe is l ying between Saturn

and its rings—a risky trip, since the rings are

made of zooming rocks and ice chunks. h is September,

Cassini will plunge into Saturn’s atmosphere and burn up. In

the meantime, it’s sending back photos from this exciting

vantage point. h ose include new images of Pan, Saturn’s

closest moon.

h e tiny moon is only about 22 miles (35 kilometers) wide.

It whips around Saturn once every 13.8 hours. h e most

striking thing about this moon, though, is its shape. h e

Cassini images, the nearest pictures ever taken of Pan, capture

the weird ridge that circles the

little moon. People

disagree about what

it most looks like: Is

it a space ravioli?

An empanada? A

pan-fried dump-

ling?... Be right

back, we’re

getting something

to eat.