The Mysteries Of Iapetus Saturn Satellite
Equatorial Cordillera
Iapetus is the eighth satellite of Saturn and third in size. The Cassini probe, whose name was chosen in commemoration of Giovanni Cassini, astronomer of the seventeenth century, among other achievements, discovered Saturn's satellites Iapetus, Rhea, Dione and Tethys, came to this satellite in 2004 and provided photographic scenes devoted to Iapetus as the strangest solar system body.LOW DENSITY
The satellite has a diameter of 1,436 km which is less than half that of the moon and a density of 1.27 g / cm3, which is slightly more than the density of water, indicating that Iapetus is a giant ball of snow.INCLINED ORBIT
of Iapetus orbit the planet is far, far more than the other large moons. And the plane ther has an inclination of 15 ^0 relative to Saturn. The reason for this tilt is unknown. Perhaps the result of any of the tremendous impacts showing surface.
Yin and Yan
The satellite has a clear, bright and very dark area. It is this fact which prevented Cassini in the seventeenth century see the planet when it was shown by its brown hemisphere. There are several theories to explain this fact, but no satisfactory at 100%.One thing to note is that Phoebe and Hyperion moons are also covered with the same material, but homogeneously distributed.
One theory postulates that the dark material is of external origin and could be caused by a collision of Phoebe or Hyperion with an asteroid that "splashed" to Iapetus. This theory does not justify how it is possible that collisions of meteorites in the dark area do not leave the ice below it is assumed, unless the thickness of this layer of sediment is really significant, which seems unlikely.Another theory suggests that the origin of the dark material is internal to the satellite, caused by some type of volcanism. No if possible volcanic activity in a snowball.Iapetus has another peculiarity more, although in some forums is also categorized as strange, it is not so, is that the orbit of rotation of the satellite is synchronized with the rotation of Saturn, so it always shows the same face (like our moon). Look at the following chart:
It was recently discovered the existence of an additional ring of Saturn's tenuous. If we add this to the dark side is going forward Japetus orbit around Saturn, maybe that spot is simply dirty windshield result of millions of years of travel along a dusty road.
EQUATORIAL CORDILLERAAnother enigma is the mountain range that runs through the same Ecuador in the dark zone with a width of 20 m and a height of 13 km, which gives the satellite appearance of a walnut.Perhaps it is present only in the dark hemisphere indicating that the source could be the same as the rest of the powder. It may have been more dust concentration in the orbital plane of Iapetus during a period of time and therefore had accumulated forming a chain.There are some other anomalies, such as straight grooves that can be seen on the surface of Iapetus, which are not taken into consideration, given the distance at which the photos, or an odd column is seen in one of the shots were taken Cassini so far, it could be even a camera error.As in this world there are people for everything, there are also those who think that is an artificial satellite Iapetus left there by a very ancient and super advanced civilization. Friends of StarViewer not tell the purpose it is supposed that it could have, perhaps a retreat center for wealthy retirees alien, or perhaps only one element devanemos put there for our brains.In short, this satellite has many enigmatic elements that certainly require in-depth studies to try to understand the solar system in which we live.
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