Iapetus, Saturn's Strange Walnut Moon
Monday, December 13, 2010 - 01:31
in Astronomy & Space
A team of planetary scientists think the peculiar walnut-shaped mountain range circling most of the equator of Saturn's moon Iapetus was formed from fragments of a companion mini-moon that broke up and rained debris under the larger moon's gravitational force. The scientists, led by UIC earth and environmental sciences associate professor Andrew Dombard, will present their model at the fall meeting of the American Geophysical Union Dec. 15.