{"id":19037,"date":"2017-03-10T23:13:55","date_gmt":"2017-03-10T15:13:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/its-a-ufo-its-a-walnut-no-its-pan-one-of-saturns-weirdest-looking-moons\/"},"modified":"2017-03-10T23:13:55","modified_gmt":"2017-03-10T15:13:55","slug":"its-a-ufo-its-a-walnut-no-its-pan-one-of-saturns-weirdest-looking-moons","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/its-a-ufo-its-a-walnut-no-its-pan-one-of-saturns-weirdest-looking-moons\/","title":{"rendered":"It\u2019s a UFO! It\u2019s a walnut? No \u2026 It\u2019s Pan, one of Saturn\u2019s weirdest-looking moons"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Pan\"
A picture taken by the high-resolution camera on the Cassini orbiter shows Pan\u2019s weird-looking equatorial ridge. (NASA \/ JPL-Caltech \/ SSI)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Astronomers have long known that Pan, one of the \u201cshepherd moons\u201d in Saturn\u2019s rings, had a weird shape. But it took this week\u2019s high-resolution images from the Cassini orbiter to show them just how weird.<\/p>\n

Cassini got its closest look ever at Pan on Tuesday, when it came within a little more than 15,000 miles of the 20-mile-wide moon. In the close-ups released on Thursday, the thing looks like a flattened flying saucer, complete with a bulging ridge around the edge.<\/p>\n

Overnight, the views sparked rounds of hilarity and awe on Twitter. Was it a cosmic turtle shell? Walnut? Ravioli? And what\u2019s behind that strange, strange shape?<\/p>\n