In theastronomy of theSolar System,Chrysalis is ahypothetical formermoon of Saturn, named in 2022 by scientists of theMassachusetts Institute of Technology using data from theCassini–Huygens mission.[1] The moon would have been torn apart by Saturn's tidal forces, somewhere between 200 and 100 million years ago. Up to 99% of the moon's mass would have been swallowed by Saturn, with the remaining 1% forming therings of Saturn.[2] The origin of Saturn's rings from the destruction of a satellite has been previously proposed by other authors.[3]
Chrysalis was hypothesized to be similar in size and mass toIapetus, with a similar water-ice composition, and to have orbited somewhere between Iapetus and Titan. Its orbit around Saturn may have been degraded as a result ofTitan's orbit expanding due to interactions of the Saturnian system with aresonance withNeptune, resulting in the increasingeccentricity of Chrysalis's orbit until beingtorn apart during a close encounter with Saturn by its parent planet'sgravitational force.[4]
The hypothetical moon was named after thepupa stage of a butterfly, with the rings of Saturn representing its emergence from the chrysalis.[4]
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