Cosmology Archives - Astrodude Space

Category: Cosmology

Daphnis: Saturn’s Shepherd Moon Creating Ring Waves

noor-e-aishaSeptember 10, 2025

Daphnis is a small, football-shaped moon of Saturn, discovered in 2005. It orbits within the Keeler Gap, a narrow opening in Saturn’s A ring. Due to its gravitational influence, Daphnis disturbs nearby ring particles, generating distinctive wave-like patterns that both lead and follow its path. These formations, often referred to as “Daphnidian waves,” are striking […]

Janus and Epimetheus: Saturn’s Orbit-Swapping Twin Moons

noor-e-aishaSeptember 6, 2025

Janus and Epimetheus are two of Saturn’s moons that share the same orbit, separated by only about 50 kilometers (31 miles). When they approach each other, they exchange momentum and switch orbits—the inner moon becomes the outer, and vice versa. This orbital swap occurs roughly every four years. Janus was discovered by Audouin Dollfus in […]

Hyperion: Chaotic Moon of Saturn with Unique Shape

noor-e-aishaAugust 25, 2025

Hyperion is notably irregular in shape, not conforming to a spherical form, which is why it’s described as potato-shaped. Its low density—estimated to be about half that of water—is due to its high porosity, meaning it is approximately 42% empty space. Unlike the predictable rotation of other moons, Hyperion tumbles in a random and chaotic […]

Facts About Tethys: Saturn’s Icy Moon and Craters

noor-e-aishaAugust 20, 2025

Tethys was discovered by Giovanni Domenico Cassini in 1684. It was named after a Titan from Greek mythology. Tethys is Saturn’s fifth-largest moon and orbits the planet at a distance of approximately 295,000 km (183,000 miles). Its orbital period is about 45 hours. Tethys is primarily composed of water ice, with a small amount of […]

Evidence and Search for Planet Nine: A Hypothetical Giant

noor-e-aishaJuly 16, 2025

In January 2016, astronomers Konstantin Batygin and Mike Brown from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) announced research suggesting the existence of a planet about 1.5 times the size of Earth in the outer solar system. This theoretical world, dubbed “Planet Nine,” has not been directly observed, but its possible presence is inferred from the […]

Oort Cloud Explained: Distance, Formation, Structure, and Comet Origins

noor-e-aishaJuly 11, 2025

The Oort Cloud is the most distant region in our solar system, and it’s jaw-droppingly far away, extending perhaps one-quarter to halfway from our Sun to the next star.To appreciate the distance to the Oort Cloud, it’s helpful to set aside miles and kilometers and instead use the astronomical unit, or AU — a unit […]

What Is a Black Hole? Origins, Physics & Discovery Explained

noor-e-aishaJuly 11, 2025

A black hole is a massive, compact astronomical object so dense that its gravity prevents anything—even light—from escaping. Albert Einstein’s theory of general relativity predicts that a sufficiently compact mass will form a black hole. The boundary beyond which nothing can escape is called the event horizon. While a black hole has a profound effect […]

June 23, 2015: 60,000 orbits for Mars Odyssey

noor-e-aishaJune 30, 2025

NASA’s Mars Odyssey spacecraft completed its 60,000th orbit of the Red Planet on June 23, 2015. When Odyssey launched in April 2001 with a goal of better understanding Mars’ environment, the Red Planet was generally thought to be dry, barren world; the mission transformed our understanding, discovering widespread subsurface water ice. Its continuous observations have […]

June 28, 2011: Kerberos is discovered

noor-e-aishaJune 30, 2025

On June 28, 2011, Pluto’s moon Kerberos was discovered by a team using the Hubble Space Telescope, led by senior research scientist Mark Showalter. While the primary goal of the observing program was to identify both potential targets and potential hazards for the then-upcoming New Horizons mission, Kerberos and its fellow moon Styx were also […]

How a signal from a 60-year-old satellite baffled astronomers for over a year

noor-e-aishaJune 30, 2025

Around midday on June 13 last year, my colleagues and I were scanning the skies when we thought we had discovered a strange and exciting new object in space. Using a huge radio telescope, we spotted a blindingly fast flash of radio waves that appeared to be coming from somewhere inside our galaxy. After a […]

Category: Cosmology

Daphnis: Saturn’s Shepherd Moon Creating Ring Waves

Janus and Epimetheus: Saturn’s Orbit-Swapping Twin Moons

Hyperion: Chaotic Moon of Saturn with Unique Shape

Facts About Tethys: Saturn’s Icy Moon and Craters

Evidence and Search for Planet Nine: A Hypothetical Giant

Oort Cloud Explained: Distance, Formation, Structure, and Comet Origins

What Is a Black Hole? Origins, Physics & Discovery Explained

June 23, 2015: 60,000 orbits for Mars Odyssey

June 28, 2011: Kerberos is discovered

How a signal from a 60-year-old satellite baffled astronomers for over a year

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How a signal from a 60-year-old satellite baffled astronomers for over a year

June 28, 2011: Kerberos is discovered

June 23, 2015: 60,000 orbits for Mars Odyssey

What Is a Black Hole? Origins, Physics & Discovery Explained