An eruption of atomic oxygen spotted around Saturn by the Cassini spacecraft suggests that the planet's iconic rings are eroding and could be gone in 100 million years, NASA scientists said on Friday.
Cassini scientists theorise that the atomic oxygen is evidence of a collision between objects in Saturn's 'E-ring', which are largely made up of ice and could have released the gas as they broke apart.
"The implication is that within 100 million years time this process would erode the entire E ring, assuming there was no replenishment," Cassini team investigator Donald Shemansky said. "It's really spectacular (to witness)."
Unless those objects are replenished in the rings, Cassini investigator Donald Shemansky said, they would slowly be "eaten away" within about 100 million years.
Shemansky cautioned that project scientists had not reached firm conclusions about the eruption and were not even certain that it came from a collision among objects in the E-ring.
Other possibilities include a meteorite crashing into the ring or even an event -- such as an ice volcano - on Enceladus, one of Saturn's 31 known moons.
{{/usCountry}}Other possibilities include a meteorite crashing into the ring or even an event -- such as an ice volcano - on Enceladus, one of Saturn's 31 known moons.
{{/usCountry}}"Remember, we've only seen one of these so far," Shemansky said, adding that the eruption apparently occurred in late January and was picked up by Cassini's instruments.
Cassini, which settled into orbit around Saturn earlier this week after a journey of nearly seven years and 2.2 billion miles (3.54 billion km), on Friday also took its first close-up images of the surface of Titan, Saturn's largest and most intriguing moon.
The truck-sized probe carries cameras with lens filters that allow them to see through the Titan's atmospheric haze and scientists were eagerly awaiting their first good look at the moon's surface and signs of liquid water or methane.
A picture sent back by Cassini earlier in the day showed what project manager Carolyn Porco called possible "linear tectonics" on the surface which may offer clues the moon's internal dynamics.
"If you don't see the surface you can't read the story of its geology," Porco said at a press conference at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.
Titan is of particular interest to the Cassini team because its methane and nitrogen atmosphere and the presence of hydrocarbons are seen as similar to a primordial Earth before life began.
Cassini is set to spend at least four years studying the planet, its rings and its moons. It carries on its back a smaller craft, Huygens, which is designed to break away in December and briefly plummet onto the surface of Titan.
That portion of the mission was designed largely by the European and Italian space agencies. The $3 billion mission has been hailed as a model of international cooperation, with scientists from 17 countries participating.