Dieses Portal bietet Basiswissen zum Thema Astronomie und zeigt aktuelle Forschungsarbeiten und -kooperationen in der Schweiz auf.

Image: ESO

Saturn - Enceladus und Titan

Saturn's moon Enceladus
Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute

The astronomer Wilhelm Herschel discovered Saturn's moon Enceladus in 1789. Composed mostly of ice, it has a density of 1.61 grams per cubic centimeter. Starting in 2005, the Cassini spacecraft conducted multiple studies of Enceladus. In 2006, NASA scientists confirmed the presence of liquid water beneath its icy surface. Cassini also detected a heat source and organic material, key ingredients for life to emerge or to have once existed.

Saturn’s largest moon, Titan, is named after the Titans of Greek mythology. It was discovered in 1655 by Dutch astronomer Christiaan Huygens. In 1980, the Voyager 1 spacecraft visited Titan, and in 2005, the Huygens lander from the Cassini-Huygens mission successfully landed on its surface, providing groundbreaking insights. Titan is the most Earth-like body in our solar system, featuring a nitrogen-rich atmosphere and liquid on its surface. However, its density is much lower than Earth’s—only 1.88 grams per cubic centimeter compared to Earth’s 5.51. Additionally, it lies far beyond the habitable zone, as it is too distant from the Sun. Its outermost layer consists mainly of ice and methane hydrate.