Chrysalis is the name given to a proposed moon that was hypothesized to have orbited Saturn, before it was destroyed by the tidal forces of the planet.
History
Chrysalis was first hypothesized and named in 2022, by the scientist of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with the use of data from the Cassini-Huygens mission.[1]
It is thought that Chrysalis orbited Saturn between 200 and 100 million years ago, before it was eventually torn apart by the tidal forces of the planet by the gravity of Titan and Saturn pulling it in. Up to 99% of its mass would've been swallowed up by Saturn, with the remaining 1% forming the rings of the planet.[2] Though, there had been a few proposed origins to Saturn's rings that involves the destruction of a former moon.
Properties
Chrysalis was theorized to be similar in mass and size to that of Iapetus, and that it had a similar water-ice composition, and it was thought to have orbited between the orbits of Titan and Iapetus. Chrysalis's orbit around Saturn may have degraded as a result of the orbit of Titan expanding due the interactions with the Saturn-system, with a resonance with the Eighth planet of the Solar system, Neptune.
As a result, the eccentricity of Chrysalis' orbit increased until it was eventually torn apart by the gravitational forces of Saturn after a close encounter with the planet.[3]
Gallery
Trivia
- Chrysalis is named after the Pupa stage of a butterfly.
- This, of course, represents the emergence of Saturn's rings from the chrysalis.