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The researchers have observed mysterious bands on the moon of Saturn, Dione, and think that these bands are linear virgins, probably because of the materials covering the surface of the planet. This latest study, published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, draws on information gathered by NASA's Cassini mission, which stopped the previous fall.
Just before being destroyed, the researchers observed on the surface of Dione long straight and vibrant stripes, much like those found on Rhea, one of Saturn's other moons.
Dione's stripes are parallel and look quite young and are not affected by the troposphere. According to geologist Alex Patthoff of the Planetary Science Institute, the orientation, as well as the linearity of the bands, have never been noticed before in the solar system.
This is the reason why Patthoff and his colleagues decided to determine if the stripes came from a geological activity on the moon or any type of external forces. To determine this, they made a list and reviewed all the potential explanations, such as the rocks draped over the surface of Dione leaving traces, the surface of the small moon split and the fragments rubbing against each other . Or maybe the scratches were caused by huge impacts that shook the moon.
However, only one explanation is what the researchers saw on the surface of Dione, that is to say the streaks formed by the material falling on the moon's surface from the rings of Saturn, comets that pass as well as co-orbital Saturn moons. These explanations show that if researchers can better look at and better understand the streaks, they might have an idea whether Saturn's moon life, Dione, is plausible or not.
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