9 September: NASA announces a new moon, or possibly two,
orbiting 141,000 kilometres from the centre of the planet,
just outside its F ring. The object, which is between 4
and 5 kilometres in diameter, was spotted in images taken
by Cassini on 21 June. A similar object was seen five hours
later, just inside the ring. Researchers aren't sure if
the two images are of the same moon following an elliptical
orbit, or two separate moons. Or they might just be temporary
clumps of matter, lasting only a few months.
A new ring has also been found, albeit an extremely faint
one (see image). It is 300 kilometres wide, and lies 138,000
kilometres from the centre of the planet, in the same orbit
as the moon Atlas (shown by the red dotted line). It falls
between Saturn's A ring, which marks the outer layer of
Saturn's main set of rings, and the F ring.