International Edition Winners - 2012
International Edition Winners - 2012
BRAZIL
Jean Borges Marques "Em minha opinião a Cassini deveria ser enviada ao Anel F, pois o mesmo é um anel praticamente desconhecido e com isso poderíamos fazer uma infinidade de descobertas ampliando assim nossos conhecimentos sobre Saturno e alguns fenômenos ocorridos em nosso Universo." | ||
Vitor Hugo Leandro De Paula "Creio que Giovanni Domenico Cassini se atrairia muito por essa parte de Saturno, ele o primeiro observador de luas nesse planeta, com certeza iria gostar de tirar fotos do anel para ver se mais corpos poderiam estar ali escondidos e para admirar a bela paisagem." | ||
Júlia Pereira Campos and Nícolas de Oliveira "O anel F é uma estrutura complexa formada de vários mini anéis ao longo dos quais se veem ondulações, falhas e elevações. Por isso, essa pode ser a base para muitas outras descobertas devido a constante movimentação e sua atividade frenética." | ||
Ana Maria Alves de Paula, Anselmo Emílio Tomain, Bernardo Araújo Ferreira, Hamir Abdalla Hosni "Um deles foi Giovanni Cassini, que entre outras façanhas descobriu a Divisão Cassini entre os anéis A e B e outro foi Johann Encke que encontrou no anel A a divisão que leva seu nome e que é mantida aberta onde se encontra a lua Pã." | ||
Karla Rocha Gonçalves, Anna Karolyna de Fátima Esteves Vieira, Priscila Correa de Castro, Fernanda Correa Fortes "O planeta Saturno é um dos planetas mais bonitos e populares. Mesmo os outros planetas gasosos possuindo anéis, nenhum deles os têm como Saturno. Outro fato interessante é sobre sua densidade: apesar de ser um dos gigantes do sistema solar é um dos planetas de menor densidade, tanto que sua rotação demora pouco mais de dez horas." |
BULGARIADeana Antonova Teneva "Pan is interesting because its gravitational influence on the A ring. Its main affect is clearly shown by the Encke Gap, but also harder to detect "wakes" can tell us a lot." |
GREECE7–12 year–old category 13–15 year–old category 16–18 year–old category To read the essays, visit the European Space Agency Website |
INDIA | ||
Gayatri Vidya Peeth Rajnandgaon, Chattisgarh " I have chosen this target because F ring of Saturn is the most weird and dynamic ring and it is very interesting topic to discuss. The F ring core is the brightest strand and ever changing ring."+ Read Essay | ||
Gayatri Vidyapeeth Shantikunj Garhawli, Dharma Shala, Haridwar " I want to see the Cassini to take the pictures of rings of Saturn. I am sure it will reveal truth and open new door about new moons, Encke gap and ring’s material."+ Read Essay | ||
St. Paul's School (I.C.S.E.) Begusarai Bihar "Early theories suggested that the rings are, cosmologically speaking, temporary and can vanish quickly, being unstable; but some recent theories have suggested that it maybe stable with lifetime of billions of years and maintained by shepherd moons and other forces like Electromagnetic interaction with other larger satellites. Watching Pan in details will provide some interesting clue to ring phenomena."+ Read Essay | ||
Devkuva Primary School Near Devkuva, Petlad "Beautiful, glamorous and mysterious, Saturn's rings are spread over hundreds of thousands of kilometers, yet they are extremely thin -- perhaps only 10 meters thick."+ Read Essay | ||
Baroda High School, Alkapuri Vadodara, Gujarat "The F-ring is very intriguing. The images revealed that it has somewhat a "braided" structure, as if thin rings had been wounded around each other. It has a central ring and a wavy ring. It is also suspected that Pandora and Prometheus play a role in the F-rings strange nature."+ Read Essay | ||
Baroda High School, Alkapuri Akota, Vadodara "Saturn is called the most beautiful planet in the Solar System and it is!"+ Read Essay | ||
Gayatri Vidya Peeth, (C.G.) "The most astonishing ring is the thin, narrow faint 'F ring'. The narrow ring shows the surprising effect due to demeanor of its two natural satellites 'Prometheus and Pandora' which give the ring a dynamic quality."+ Read Essay | ||
Gayatri Vidhya Peeth Rajnandgaon "Saturn is a point of interest because most people probably know that Saturn is 6th planet from the sun and it has magnificient rings around it, but it just got more that"+ Read Essay | ||
Baroda High school, Alkapuri Vadodara, Gujarat "Talking about Saturn we find that its main constituents are methane, Ammonia, Hydrogen and helium. At the center, heavy elements have probably settled into the small rocky core. The presence of methane shows a possibility of sustainability of a living organism as it is the simplest organic compound."+ Read Essay |
PAKISTAN | ||
Uzair Rafiq Aisha Bawany Academy -- 5th Grade, Target 1 "I would choose Pan to be the best pointing location for Cassini to collect upcoming changes. In my opinion, it is the most exciting and happening target of the planet."+ Read Essay | ||
Iman Masood Headstart School System, Clifton Campus -- 5th Grade, Target 2 "When we study the space. we immediately recognize Saturn by its rings. Most people's opinion is that there is a one massive ring orbiting Saturn. Actually, there are many tiny rings that are said to form this one massive major ring."+ Read Essay | ||
Ali Azhar Bahria College NORE I -- 5th Grade, Target 3 "I think Saturn and its rings is the best target. We can learn a lot about its gravity, its rings and its atmosphere. We can study how much light reaches the planet and how it became the second largest planet."+ Read Essay | ||
Mohammad Obaid Hassan Khan Headstart School System, Clifton Campus -- 7th Grade, Target 1 "We know the shape of Pan but we don't know the reason behind this shape. So the questions are why is Pan shaped like a walnut? Why not like a sphere? Was it hit by meteors? Or is there some volcanic activity taking place which has changed its shape?"+ Read Essay | ||
Sabahat Tahir Army Public Schools and College Systems, Rawalkot Campus -- 8th Grade, Target 2 "F ring is also composed of several narrow rings, bends and tints with bright clumps in them which serves as another important aspect of Saturn to be studied and explored. F ring is the most active ring in solar system which features changing on a timescale of hours."+ Read Essay | ||
Farkhanda Shahid Head Start School System -- 8th Grade, Target 3 "The first and most fundamental is that why only Saturn has such beautiful and mysterious rings. What is the uniqueness in the Saturn because of which it carry rings with it. Cassini output on that may be unleash the mystery of Saturn's rings."+ Read Essay | ||
Amnah Irfan Siddiqui Bahria College Karsaz -- 10th Grade, Target 1 "Among the most pulchritudinous things Universe has for us, the moons of the planet Saturn are perhaps the most peculiar celestial bodies which happen to exist in this universe. The moon Pan is one of them."+ Read Essay | ||
Wabiha Zehra Qamar-e-Bani Hashim Higher Secondary School -- 10th Grade, Target 2 "Another amazing fact is that F-Ring is kept in its place by shepherding satellites (i.e. Pandora and Prometheus) that are revolving on both sides of F- Ring and also keep it from diffusing into space. When the circle of research become more wider on it so it become more clear that how this complex system is formed and is working?"+ Read Essay | ||
Ameer Hasan Khan Chiniot Islamia School & College -- 10th Grade, Target 3 "Since the image covers a large expanse of Saturn's atmosphere, so a lot can be learnt about it. A lot of questions like, does it only contain hydrogen and helium or some other substances are present there too?"+ Read Essay | ||
Amna Komal Garrison Academy, Kharian Cantt -- 12th Grade, Target 1 "Cassini should take more valuable images of Pan, having appreciable information about the processes, such as, vertical displacement occurring in the rings and shadows cast by moons due to their orbital inclination. Effects of gravity of Pan on Saturn could be a point to ponder for scientists."+ Read Essay | ||
M. Arsam Saleem, Tahura Shahid, Sidra Kausar, Sarah Pervez Alwani Aga Khan Higher Secondary School -- 12th Grade, Target 2 "In short, any expedition to learn more about Saturn cannot possibly be complete without studying its most dynamic and perplexing entity, the F ring. That is why I believe that the Cassini spacecraft and scientists should focus particularly on Saturn's F ring; it may bring us one step closer to understanding a few mysteries of the universe and that is something I sincerely wish for."+ Read Essay | ||
Sarah Salahuddin, Gulraiz Haider, Sahir Noorali, Komal Hakim Ali Aga Khan Higher Secondary School -- 12th Grade, Target 3 "Another interesting aspect of Saturn is its similarity in composition to the solar nebula that formed the solar system. Saturn is composed of 7500 hydrogen and 2500 helium with traces of water, methane, ammonia and rock similar to that of the primordial solar nebula. If we find the origin of Saturn and its rings, we can find out much more about the origin of the solar system."+ Read Essay |
POLAND13–15 year–old category 16–18 year–old category To read the essays, visit the European Space Agency Website |
PORTUGAL12–14 year–old category 15–18 year–old category To read the essays, visit the European Space Agency Website |
ROMANIA | ||||
Vlad Cristian Dragne Grade: 5-6 Target: 1 School no. 79 , Bucharest "Another important question would be "How does this shepherd-moon mentain the Encke gap and keep it free of ring particles? ". The answer is simple and short: "Gravity ". Pan will make a good example of the force of gravity properties."+ Read Essay | ||||
Stefan Scarlatescu, Vlad Francu Grade: 5-6 Target: 2 Liceul Teoretic National, Bucharest "There are ghostly "spokes" in the rings that flicker on and off. What causes them? Scientists believe they may be electrically charged particles, but we do not really know. Where do the subtle colors in Saturn's rings come from?"+ Read Essay | ||||
Dan Gabriel Chisca, Tudor Caldarescu Grade: 5-6, Target: 3 (tie) Colegiul National , lasi "Rings of Saturn are for a long time the explored mistery of the coming of existance of our solar system. How did they form ? When did they form? What are they made of? What makes Saturn so special from the rest of the giant planets of our solar system?"+ Read Essay | ||||
Eduard Mironeanu Grade: 5-6, Target: 3 (tie) Colegiul National , Iasi "The origins of Saturn's rings are still a mystery and scientists from the entire world have considered that the rings were formed after a cosmic cataclysm which took place after Saturn was formed, by means of the disintegration of a massive ice block of hundreds or thousands kilometers diameter; or ... "+ Read Essay | ||||
Ioana Ileana Ichim Grade: 7-8 Target: 1 "Sf. Vasile" -- Ploiesti "It would be a great opportunity for Cassini to better explore the aspect and physical and chemical characteristics of Pan, so that the astronomers will be able to answer questions about the Solar System and about the primordial Terra."+ Read Essay | ||||
Silvia Maria Nita, Ioana Stefania Petre Grade: 7-8, Target: 2 Gymnasial School No.195 , Bucharest "Beautiful, glorious and mysterious, the rings of Saturn are the most recognized rings in the Solar System. They cover an area of hundreds of thousands of kilometers, although very thin, as thin as tens of meters. The ring consists of millions of particles that are made almost entirely of water ice. There is still no consensus as to their origin and formation."+ Read Essay | ||||
Alexandru Pascadi, Dragos Martac, Andrei Draghici, Claudiu Dan Grade: 7-8 Target: 3 "Tudor Vianu" National High School of Computer Science , Bucharest "One of the reasons that we believe Cassini should probe to study Saturn consists of huge amount of hydrogen exists on this, which may serve as an important source of energy on Earth."+ Read Essay | ||||
Beatrice Gugu-Petrisor Grade: 9-12, Target: 1 National College "Ienachita Vacarescu," Targoviste "Pan's unusual shape is another intriguing aspect. The odd shape may come from fast rates of spin that might have stretched the moon, but somehow it doesn't whirl very quickly and taking about 14 hours to complete a rotation. So the question is asked: How did pan get the peculiar form?"+ Read Essay | ||||
Catalina Paraschiv, Adriana Mocanu Grade: 9-12, Target: 2 "Tudor Vianu" National High School of Computer Science , Bucharest "The first argument supporting the idea is F ring's structure. It contains a core ring, surrounded by a spiral. Its circumference measures 885.000 km. The ring is maintained by two 'shepherd' moons, Pandora and Prometheus. They orbit on both sides of the ring and sustain its thin and narrow shape. Moreover, due to these moons,"+ Read Essay | ||||
Catalin-Adrian Parvu Grade: 9-12, Target: 3 Colegiul Tehnic de Material Rulant , Bucharest "I believe that Target 3: Saturn and its rings are of a high interest to discover new mecanisms to produce the Planet's heating and the explanation of the turned red rings, noticed in the visible light, different from the white bluish colour specific to the ice on the Earth."+ Read Essay |
SINGAPORE
Celine Espanol "The natural processes that occur within the F ring can give scientists a glimpse into the mechanisms at work in the early solar system, as planets and moons coalesced out of disks of debris..." | ||
Prinita Mukherjee "These images will also help scientists answer questions on Earth's weather cycle as Earth's surface has large land masses and oceans, complicating the weather patterns while Saturn's unmarred surface provides an apt model for studying circulation patterns and the atmosphere." |
SPAIN10–13 year–old category 14–15 year–old category 16–17 year–old category To read the essays, visit the European Space Agency Website |
TURKEY
Arman Mutlak "One reason why Pan should be examined is its unique shape. Being shaped like a wallnut with a 20 km diameter could be explained by its having a low density and as a result, expanding in the middle." + Read Essay | ||
Orhan Efe Yavuz "Just like how the Earth and the Venus are very similar, even sometimes they are called as "twins", Jupiter and Saturn are very similar not only in size, but also in atmospheric characteristics. Saturn and Jupiter are known for their violent, long-lasting storms. " + Read Essay | ||
Asli Ak "Close up pictures from Cassini will provide scientists crucial information about weather changes on the planet. Since Cassini will observe both winter and summer conditions in Saturn during its mission, the weather changes would give us details of Saturn's seasons; thus increasing our future predictions' accuracy on these periodic behaviors." + Read Essay | ||
Ceren Aytekin Istanbul "Target 3 embraces the two other targets' aim. Scientists' comprehension of rings of Saturn will help reveal mysteries around the moon Pan (Target 1) and the F ring (Target 2)" | ||
Kaan Yildirim "The observation of Pan may lead to valuable data about the formation of itself and similar shaped moons like Atlas. The extraordinary place of Pan suggests that the formation of it is based on a relatively large core, bounding porous icy ring material to itself." |
UNITED KINGDOM12–14 year–old category 15–17 year–old category To read the essays, visit the European Space Agency Website |
VENEZUELA
Team: Stormbusters Explorers + Read Essay | ||
Team: Lord of the Rings "We are intrigued by Target 2, F Ring, we can't sleep just thinking what´s going on there being the outermost of Saturn's main rings is superbly interesting as it is one of the most dynamic in the "Saturn System." | ||
Team: The Big Bang Theory Explorers "Pan,who has a notable role in Saturn's A Ring: it has a non simetrical shape, not very aesthetic, keeps icy material from forming on its own orbit by forming gravity waves that pushes particles out of its way hundreds of kilometers away." |
