Unprecedented Views of Saturn's Rings as Cassini Dances Death Spiral

By Nancy Atkinson January 30, 2017

Stardust melody: @CassiniSaturn took these images as it stared at #Saturn’s faint & dusty G Ring. More on the rings: https://t.co/rH9bqqQCQd pic.twitter.com/ftMZMwYB1W

Stardust melody: @CassiniSaturn took these images as it stared at #Saturn’s faint & dusty G Ring. More on the rings: https://t.co/rH9bqqQCQd pic.twitter.com/ftMZMwYB1W

Spilker has envisioned holding a ring particle in her hand. What would it look like? “We have evidence of the particles that have an icy core covered with fluffy regolith material that is very porous,” she said, “and that means the particle can heat up and cool down very quickly compared to a solid ice cube.”

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson is a space journalist and author with a passion for telling the stories of people involved in space exploration and astronomy. She is currently retired from daily writing, but worked at Universe Today for 20 years as a writer and editor. She also contributed articles to The Planetary Society, Ad Astra (National Space Society), New Scientist and many other online outlets.

Her 2019 book, "Eight Years to the Moon: The History of the Apollo Missions,” shares the untold stories of engineers and scientists who worked behind the scenes to make the Apollo program so successful, despite the daunting odds against it. Her first book “Incredible Stories From Space: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Missions Changing Our View of the Cosmos” (2016) tells the stories of 37 scientists and engineers that work on several current NASA robotic missions to explore the solar system and beyond.

Nancy is also a NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador, and through this program, she has the opportunity to share her passion of space and astronomy with children and adults through presentations and programs. Nancy's personal website is nancyatkinson.com