NASA's Cassini spacecraft has found evidence of an icy object in the outer edge of Saturn's A ring, which could possibly be a new baby moon for the planet.
The object was named "Peggy", and measures half a mile wide, according to The Los Angeles Times. Astronomers believe the object is the cause of a bump in the arc, which is usually smooth.
An image of the A ring was taken by Cassini's narrow-angle camera one year ago, on April 15, 2013. Peggy is too small for the spacecraft to see directly. Cassini is set to fly near the A ring in late 2016, which will give NASA scientists a chance to get a closer look at the object.
Scientists say that Peggy could be a small icy moon that can show the process of the formation of Saturn's moons, CNET reported. One of their theories is that the moons form from icy particles in the rings and eventually move from the rings out to combine with other moons or orbit on their own.
The findings were published in the journal Icarus.
"We have not seen anything like this before," said Carl Murray, lead author of the study from Queens Mary University of London. "We may be looking at the act of birth, where this object is just leaving the rings and heading off to be a moon in its own right."
The older moons most likely formed when the rings were larger, and then orbited further away from Saturn after collecting so much material. Younger moons, however, are usually smaller and closer to the planet, The Lost Angeles Times reported.
Reports say that Peggy was named after Murray's mother-in-law. The object may be as big as it can possibly get.
If it is confirmed that Peggy is a new moon, the object may be of the last new moons for Saturn, CNET reported. This possibility could make Peggy the little sister in a large family of moons.
