The Rings and Moons of Saturn

  1. When were Saturn's rings discovered? When did astronomers realize what they were?

  2. What would happen to a satellite if it came too close to Saturn?

  3. What evidence supports the idea that a relatively recent catastrophic event was responsible for Saturn's rings?

  4. What effect does Mimas have on Saturn's rings?

  5. What are shepherd satellites?

  6. When Voyager 1 passed Saturn in 1980, why didn't it see the surface of Titan, Saturn's largest moon?

  7. Compare and contrast Titan with Jupiter's Galilean moons.

  8. Why does Titan have a dense atmosphere, whereas other large moons in the solar system do not?

  9. What is the evidence for geological activity on Enceladus?

  10. What mystery is associated with Iapetus?

  11. Imagine what the sky would look like from Saturn's moon Hyperion. Would the Sun rise and set in the same way it does on Earth? How do you imagine Saturn might look?