SCI/TECH: "That's no moon..."- Cassini captures interesting image of Iapetus

Iapetus (a moon of Saturn) is quickly becoming one of the most peculiar objects in the Solar System. Not one, but now two mysterious geological areas (the other being the sharp transition from light to dark coloration) have been observed. Whether or not the two characteristics are related is still unknown.



I always find news about 'weird space' interesting, and this certainly fits the bill. Study of this feature may give us a better understanding of the history of our solar system, how it was formed, and even delve into the mysteries of the Earth's creation. Even though our solar system is often described as 'average', it's nice to see that there are still amazing sights to be seen. It makes one question, if a run-of-the-mill system has such amazing objects, then what exotic wonders does the rest of the universe hold?

Related News Links:
news.bbc.co.uk


[edit on 11-1-2005 by Banshee]

You're right - it's the unique things that really catch your attention. I kept looking at the photo in the article and found myself thinking it looked like a bad play-do job done by my daughter.

But no one knows how the ridge formed. It might have been pushed up by compressive forces like fold mountains on Earth, or erupted from a crack in the crust like Earth's mid-ocean ridges.

I try imaging what a similar mountain range circling the earth's equator would look like.

Great stuff - glad you posted it.

B.

Could the possibility of this being pushed out from within the moon be ruled out, seeing as it is along the entire surface ignoring terrain...

I could have frozen at the poles and the ice collided at the equator. Most likely an ice planet like Europa. might want to read the Icerigger trilogy by Alan Dean Foster

Btw, i belive your camera was off a little bit. This is the nearby space station you are talking about, orbiting the same planet

That ridge does look very strange and one could almost imagine it to be artificially created as symmetrical as it appears from a distance. It's probably just a matter of time before some start to make claims of ufo's or alien bases on this satellite. I just can't imagine what would cause such a symmetrical ridge to form like that except maybe some double impacts from opposite directions.

Edited note: Maybe the ridge is a weird property of ice. That's an awful lot of ice though.

[edit on 11-1-2005 by orionthehunter]

Maybe it's the same age or even older than Saturn and was around during the gas giant's formation in hot liquid form. As Saturn grew bigger it started to pull at the liquid along the closest point but… Iapetus was cooling at the same time thus stopping the process and leaving the ridge. It could also explain the dark and light sides, as gases were pulled from the outer diameter of both Saturn and Iapetus they would have been pulled past and onto the surface of Iapetus and if the timing were just right that material could have been baked onto one side leaving a two tone moon.

Just a wild theory

Originally posted by Jehosephat
I could have frozen at the poles and the ice collided at the equator. Most likely an ice planet like Europa. might want to read the Icerigger trilogy by Alan Dean Foster

Btw, i belive your camera was off a little bit. This is the nearby space station you are talking about, orbiting the same planet

I would have to say the ice theory is a good thought but not plausible. Just go look at a forzen lake or any place were to layers of ice collide they never follow a striaght line but more of a jagged lightning bolt due to the fact the isce is not perfectly the same depth all the way through. and has different stress release points much like tectonic plates. just take to peices of plasticine or some other mouldible puddy and press them in between your hands to make the surface a little uneven and then press them together with a ruller on each side the effects will be much the same as what happens in lakes and tectonic plates jagged and uneven. course if there perfectly even you will have a near perfectly straight line all the way through both peices.

I know that doesn't disprove your theory but it does suggest it to not be the first possibility.

Originally posted by Jehosephat

is it me or does the above remind you of something...



edit: or maybe there was a joke somewhere above that i missed



[edit on 11-1-2005 by UK Wizard]

is it me or does the above remind you of something...

I am sure it was a joke, I was confused at first as well. Follow the main story link to see the real image

That was my thought exactly. "That's not a moon!"

That "Deathstar" is Mimas.

Impact which created Herschel nearly fractured whole moon.
www.solarviews.com...


But back to topic.

This ridge has been visible in earlier photos... atlhought not as clearly.


Here's good general information.
www.solarviews.com...

Artificial moon.Do you think the makers of Star Wars was preparing us for this?

Originally posted by Magickesists

I would have to say the ice theory is a good thought but not plausible. Just go look at a forzen lake or any place were to layers of ice collide they never follow a striaght line but more of a jagged lightning bolt due to the fact the isce is not perfectly the same depth all the way through. and has different stress release points much like tectonic plates. just take to peices of plasticine or some other mouldible puddy and press them in between your hands to make the surface a little uneven and then press them together with a ruller on each side the effects will be much the same as what happens in lakes and tectonic plates jagged and uneven. course if there perfectly even you will have a near perfectly straight line all the way through both peices.

I know that doesn't disprove your theory but it does suggest it to not be the first possibility.

Well when you have a uniform freeze that starts at the poles. (probly due to ambiant tempurature and spin while keeping a warm core) then works its way to the equator you could have the makes a compresion fault that would create the ridge. All you would need is for some reason why one pole would sin and the other rise.

Originally posted by Jehosephat


Well when you have a uniform freeze that starts at the poles. (probly due to ambiant tempurature and spin while keeping a warm core) then works its way to the equator you could have the makes a compresion fault that would create the ridge. All you would need is for some reason why one pole would sin and the other rise.

Unfortunatly as i see it there are to many variables involved in the plantes makeup for the ridge to have been formed by ice. And if glaciers had caused it then there would also be alot of striations correct? If you factor in that if there were enough ice to cover that much of the plantets surface and is not on the surface now where is it. There is no atmosphere either thus no moisture to form ice as i understand it. Its only logical to conclude that ice is not the cause of this and something else is. my guess is maybe the moon itself had a moon that had been obliterated by some cosmic collision and turned into a ring much like saturns rings. slowly the ring was pulled toward the planet by gravity and finally ended up piled onto the surface in a ridge along the equator.

Cool find Esoterica!

Now if NASA can pan the cameras to the right a bit, they may find a gigantic gray squirrel!

Anyhow, it is amazing at all the wondrous geological features that is being discovered throughout the Solar System.

Although the Earth is a unique planet with it's water and thick, oxygen-rich atmosphere, I still find all the planets and their satellites fascinating!

Well it certainly is a very strange thing for a moon to have and if strange is your thing this will make for great reading.

Stellar

Originally posted by StellarX
Well it certainly is a very strange thing for a moon to have and if strange is your thing this will make for great reading.

lol! Yeah, exactly... that link will explain it all... The ridge being a part of the bases propulsion system, and the crater is a communications array, isn't it? When is part 7 coming out!

You see... Hoagie is a prophet...

Originally posted by IronDogg

Originally posted by StellarX
Well it certainly is a very strange thing for a moon to have and if strange is your thing this will make for great reading.

lol! Yeah, exactly... that link will explain it all... The ridge being a part of the bases propulsion system, and the crater is a communications array, isn't it? When is part 7 coming out!

You see... Hoagie is a prophet...

Well i spent a good part of the last day checking all the ATS threads dealing with this and i am not much impressed with the so called debunking efforts. Having said that i am not investing any time in defending him any time soon! His a big boy and does not seem to know how to pick his battles.....

Stellar

This is not news at all. We have had excellent pictures of this strange feature of Iapetus for several years. This off-the-wall website has a lot of crazy theories about it, and includes around a hundred images:

www.enterprisemission.com...

EDIT: Doh, too late.

Zip


[edit on 10/29/2005 by Zipdot]

and the ridge around it is not that unusual...the links above say the ridge almost couldn't happen in nature...but when I looked at it I tohught of a thunder egg straight away...
the ither anomalies may be because of the chemical make up of the moon itself. It was well be formed of an element we have never seen before here on Earth..many crystal formations form geometric patterns and this may be the case with the moon.

Also it may well be a giant thunder egg...inside may be a wonderous crystal formation...

[edit on 29-10-2005 by Mayet]