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A new study of Saturn's moon, Dione suggests that the discovered bands are most likely fragments of Saturn's rings, other moons or passing comets.
Scientists who are observing Dione, Saturn's moon, have noticed very strange stripes and a new study has determined how these stripes can get there.
As Space reports, scientists were able to analyze data captured by NASA's previous Cassini mission, which was completed last year. On some of Cassini's photographs, clear, thin bands are visible on Dione's surface, and they are very similar to those that were also found on Rhea, another moon of Saturn.
However, on Dione, these lines are strictly parallel and seem to be fresh and new. They were also detected only in the middle of the moon. According to the co-author of the new study, Alex Patthoff, a geologist at the Planetary Science Institute, the orientation of the lines is quite strange and very different from anything that has been seen before, as explained in a public statement made by PSI.
"Their orientation, parallel to the equator, and their linearity are unlike anything we have seen in the solar system. If they are caused by an exogenous source, this could be another way to bring new material to Dione. This material could have consequences on the biological potential of the Dione submarine ocean. "
The moon of Saturn Dione is covered with strange stripes https://t.co/0w4i529hGY pic.twitter.com/3q3UD5txnR
– SPACE.com (@SPACEdotcom) October 26, 2018
It was further found that the bands found on this moon of Saturn were not affected by the topography, demonstrating that they are relatively young.
"The linear virgins of Dione are generally long (10 to 100 kilometers), narrow (less than 5 kilometers) and lighter than the surrounding lands. The bands are parallel, appear to cover other features and are unaffected by the topography, suggesting that they are among the most recent surfaces of Dione. "
To learn more about how these stripes might have touched Dione, Pathoff wondered if the surface of the moon could act the same way as the tectonic plates on Earth, with different parts overlapping each other. Another theory was that there were perhaps rocks that moved around Dione and left footprints in their wake.
According to Astrobiology Magazine, the stripes on Dione probably accumulated because of the debris falling from the rings of Saturn or passing comets, although the other moons of Saturn, Helene and Polydeuces, are also involved.
As Patthoff has explained: "The preserved evidence in the linear virga has implications for orbital evolution and impact processes in the Saturnian system. In addition, the interaction of surface and exogenous materials of Dione has implications for its habitability and provides evidence for the delivery of ingredients that can contribute to the habitability of the oceanic worlds in general. "
The new study, which demonstrates that the strange lines found on Saturn's Dion moon are probably caused by debris from outside sources such as the rings of Saturn, was published in Geophysical Research Letters.
The original article can be found by clicking here
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