If you've ever wondered how the guys over at NASA could take all those awesome pictures of Saturn and its rings, you should know that it's all thanks to the little space probe that could, Cassini-Huygens. And in this update, we catch wind about this spacecraft getting an extra two years up in space to further explore Saturn. All the details in the full article.

Astronomers believe that there's a strong possibility that life could exist on the icy Saturn's moon called Enceladus. This is due to several findings pointing out at several organic molecules and icy crystals. See the image that made NASA and the astronomers believe after the jump!

NASA's Cassini spacecraft was recently given the task of investigating the plumes of water vapor and ice crystals found erupting from the South Pole of Saturn's Enceladus. Any information gathered from this latest space mission will look into the nature of this strange phenomenon, as well as the possibility of the tiny moon being able to sustain life. More details about this in our full article.

Scientists have found two gas giant planets 5,000 light years away in a solar system that's quite like ours. The planets themselves, in fact, are similar to our own gas giants, Saturn and Jupiter. The discovery has raised hopes that we may find an Earth-like planet that may harbor life. More details in the full article.

NASA is aiming high with several new missions planned out after forwarding its request for the fiscal budget of 2009. These include three new robotic missions to the Moon, two new Earth science missions, and an ambitious mission to the outer solar system. You can take a look at more details on these ambitious new plans in the full article after the jump!

Can you imagine our Sun as it floats out in space? It's mass is equal to 332,946 Earths. Now imagine the Sun multiplied 18 billion times. That is the mass of the black hole that scientists have recently discovered. The biggest black hole yet. Details in the full article.

It's been established that where there's water, there could be life. Scientists are now in a heated debate on whether or not the water jetting off the surface of Saturn's moon Enceladus could be coming from an ancient ocean. A recent study has some answers, but are they accurate? Find out in the detailed version.

The image you see to the left is not a flying saucer. It's actually one of Saturn's moons that looks eerily like a UFO. Recent pictures show that Saturn has two of these moons and computer simulations indicate that they may have accumulated their rings by gathering debris from Saturn's own enigmatic ring. You'd think Saturn had had enough rings. More details, and a video of how these moves may have formed in the full article.

It has long since been a theory that the rings of Saturn are the remains of a shattered moon. What's in question is how one of the farther rings remains there since nothing seems to be keeping it there.

Objects escape their orbits depending on the circumstances. Our moon will escape the Earth's orbit someday, but it's way too big so it won't be leaving us for a few billion years. One of the farther Saturn rings, the G ring, is only made up of small particles so it should dissipate over time. But it doesn't... which brings up the question of why.

Recently the spacecraft Cassini, the same one that discovered Saturn's 60th moon, discovered what might be the source of the ring: a small portion along the inner edge of the ring is made up of chunks of debris that would form a moon about 100-meters in diameter. The debris is believed to be the remains of a dead moon. It's what feeds the G ring its supply of dust as it breaks down from being hit by micrometeorites.

Scientists also believe that the G ring's orbit around Saturn is also being maintained by one of its 60 moons, Mimas, which helps keep it in place. Scientists believe that the ring won't last very long though. Once that portion of debris runs out of particles, that's one less ring for Saturn.

The spacecraft Cassini, which is part of the Cassini-Huygens mission launched back in 1997, has discovered the 60th satellite of the planet Saturn while taking snapshot images of the planet in orbit.

Based from initial observations, the new moon is around two kilometers wide and lies between two other moons Methone and Pallene. Because of the new moon's proximity to Methone and Pallene, scientists are thinking that the three actually compose a family of satellites.

Cassini Imaging Team scientist Professor Carl Murray from Queen Mary University of London (QMUL) had this to say,

After initially detecting this extremely faint object, we carried out an exhaustive search of all Cassini images to date and were able to find further detections. The Saturnian system continues to amaze and intrigue us with many hidden treasures being discovered the more closely we look.

Murray added that their team will further use Cassini's cameras to look for other "family members" as well as other satellites orbiting Saturn. Currently, the new moon is dubbed as "Frank" but the official name will be decided later on by the International Astronomical Union.