Saturn's tiny, bizarre moon Pan looks like a flying saucer... or Trump's face
Saturn's moon Pan is a weird one.
The little moon, which has been compared to a ravioli, President Donald Trump and a UFO, seems to have a rocky ridge growing out of its middle section.
That ridge -- which is prominently seen in new photos taken by the Cassini spacecraft -- also gives the moon a distinct Saturn-like look, almost as if Pan is trying to emulate the large planet it orbits.
It's pretty cute when you think about it.
Cassini took the raw images of Pan on March 7, and while they haven't been cleaned up yet, the moon's distinctive shape is still obvious.
Pan's ridge, which looks like it spans the entire circumference of the 8.8-mile-wide moon, was formed by the strange interplay of gravity in Pan's part of space. (The ridge is technically known as an accretionary equatorial bulge.)
This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.
A study published in 2007 suggests that the ridge formed from particles from Saturn's rings that have fallen onto the surface of Pan and gathered around its equator. Another Saturnian moon, Atlas, also has a similar ridge observed by Cassini.
This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.
It's possible that there is still material from the planet's distinctive rings falling onto Pan's surface today, according to Cassini imaging lead Carolyn Porco.
This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.
Cassini is nearing the end of its more than 10-year mission to explore Saturn and many of its 53 known moons.
The spacecraft has been exploring the planetary system since its arrival there in 2004, and it should continue its mission until September when it will make a planned crash into Saturn's atmosphere, burning up in the process.
Until then, Cassini will keep beaming back amazing new images of the world and its many moons, revealing a new side to our solar system.
Miriam Kramer worked as a staff writer for Space.com for about 2.5 years before joining Mashable to cover all things outer space. She took a ride in weightlessness on a zero-gravity flight and watched rockets launch to space from places around the United States. Miriam received her Master's degree in science, health and environmental reporting from New York University in 2012, and she originally hails from Knoxville, Tennessee. Follow Miriam on Twitter at @mirikramer.
