Who shared the image of the “momo-shaped” object in space?
NASA often tells us about amazing discoveries in space, like galaxies, stars, and planets. They even share incredible pictures. Recently, NASA shared a photo of a "momo-shaped" object found in space. They asked people what they thought it was.
People had some funny ideas about what that dumpling-shaped thing could be. NASA also provided more information about it.
What is the object?
The “momo-shaped” object is Saturn’s innermost moon, “Pan.” NASA's Cassini spacecraft took pictures of it a long time ago. The two photos are taken from two viewpoints—one from the top of the moon and one from the bottom.
What do we know about Pan?
M.R. Showalter discovered Pan in 1990 using photos taken by the Voyager 2 mission. Showalter is a scientist who discovered six moons and three planetary rings.
Pan also looks like a flying saucer and orbits Saturn every 13.8 hours. The “momo-shaped” moon is named after Pan, a satyr. In mythology, Pan is a Greek god of nature and the forest.
What do we know about the Cassini mission?
The Cassini spacecraft, a joint mission by NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA), and the Italian Space Agency (ASI), was launched in 1997. Its mission was to study Saturn, its rings, and its moons. It also had a probe called Huygens, built by ESA, to study Saturn's biggest moon, Titan.
In 2005, Huygens landed on Titan, the first time anyone had landed on a moon so far from Earth. In 2017, the spacecraft dived into Saturn's atmosphere, sent data back to Earth, and eventually burned up like a meteor in the sky. This marked an end to the Cassini mission.
