2012 Edition -- Target 1: Pan, Grade 7 and 8 Winner
2012 Edition -- Target 1: Pan, Grade 7 and 8 Winner
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| Arseny Mikhailov | ||||
| Linwood Middle School | ||||
| 8 Grade North Brunswick, N.J. Teacher: Mrs. McCarthy | ||||
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"For this observation, I think Cassini should be pointed towards target one: Saturn's tiny moon Pan. First found by photographs taken by Voyager, the oddly shaped, walnut-like moon Pan is probably the most bizarre moon orbiting Saturn. Only about twelve miles from pole to pole, the moon's equatorial ridge which is up to six and a half miles high gives the moon its strange appearance. Although the exact formation process of Pan is still unknown, research suggests that Pan is formed from clumps of ice particles from the rings themselves. If scientists could get a better understanding of how the icy particles stuck together to shape the strange-looking moon, it could give them clues about how Saturn and all the other planets formed from the disk of matter that once surrounded our sun in the earliest stages of our solar systems formation. The Encke gap is the most famous and first identified gap in Saturn's ring structure, measuring 20 km in length. There's a good reason that this moon is named after the god of shepherds. As tiny as Pan is, Pan is the reason the Encke gap exists. Shepherding the same rings from which it was formed, the moons gravitational forces cause materials that drift too close to its orbit to be accreted by the moon, pushed back into the ring, or thrown out of the system. Pans unusual, intriguing shape would be a great image to capture on camera! The moon is so small yet it is the reason for the great Encke Gap, a really big task for something so small. On top of that the study of Pan could give scientists a lot of great information. Very little is currently known about Pan, but if we had more information it could help us understand the formation of the planets and since all things in the universe are similar in one way or another, Pan could probably give us more information about our moon too. If the Cameras on Cassini are aimed at Pan we could get a lot of information and a stunning image all in one." |
