Latest findings suggest that Saturn's 벳16 originated around 4.4 billion years ago. NASA's Cassini spacecraft, which has been orbiting Saturn since 2004, has measured the rate at which dust from outside the Saturn system is falling on the 벳16 and polluting them. The planetary scientists observed that the pollution is 40 times lower than their initial estimation. This finding along with an analysis of the cosmic dust the spacecraft collected from the 벳16 suggests that the 벳16 have formed around the time the planet itself formed—some 4.4 billion years ago. The spacecraft will now measure the mass of the 벳16 before exploring the planet’s atmosphere.
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