Image taken by cameras on board the Cassini Orbiter spacecraft and released by NASA shows the Earth's Moon. Astronomers say they have identified a place on the Moon that is an ideal location for a tentative lunar colony.(Photo)
The Cassini spacecraft has found a new moon in the outer edge of Saturn's bright main rings, confirming previous suspicions by scientists, NASA reported Tuesday.
The new moon, 7 km in diameter, is a tiny object in the center of the Keeler gap which is located about 250 km inside the outer edge of the A ring. A ring is also the outer edge of Saturn's bright main rings.
Cassini took images of the new moon and the wavy patterns its gravitational influence generates in the gap edges. A NASA news release said the spacecraft first caught the new moon's picture onMay 1 as it began climb to higher inclinations in orbit. A closer view the next day allowed it to measure the moon's size and brightness.