Cassini's Final Year at Saturn: Science Highlights and Discoveries

Abstract

Scientific findings and new discoveries from the international Cassini‐Huygens mission's exploration of the Saturn system are presented in this special issue of Geophysical Research Letters. In the mission's final year, Cassini dove through the gap between the rings and Saturn for the first time, returning new science in this previously unexplored region. Running low on fuel, Cassini's journey ended on 15 September 2017, as the spacecraft plunged into Saturn's atmosphere and vaporized. Just before the mission concluded, the Grand Finale orbits through the gap provided some of the highest resolution information on Saturn's interior and atmosphere, its rings and inner icy moons, and direct in situ sampling of this intriguing region. Initial results indicate that hydrocarbons appear to be descending into the atmosphere from the rings, that electric currents flow between the inner rings and Saturn, and that a new radiation belt exists in the gap and innermost ring.

Moisture-sensitive torsional cotton artificial muscle and textile*

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Cassini Exploration of the Planet Saturn: A Comprehensive Review

“…The interesting features include filamentary clouds coherent over 20,000 km and puffy clouds resembling terrestrial cumulus. Spilker (2019) gives the highlights and discoveries obtained during Cassini's final year, including the some of the highest-resolution information about the interior and atmosphere. Fletcher et al (2007b) used Cassini CIRS data to probe the vertical and horizontal temperature structure and its relation to the belt and zone cloud structure.…”

“…On the other hand, report no meridional migration in the region north of the hexagon, and suggest that mergers do not contribute to the maintenance of the polar vortex. , 2019 describe the haze and cloud structure in the north pole and hexagon region.…”

“…The interesting features include filamentary clouds coherent over 20,000 km and puffy clouds resembling terrestrial cumulus. Spilker (2019) gives the highlights and discoveries obtained during Cassini’s final year, including the some of the highest-resolution information about the interior and atmosphere.…”