Seeing Through Saturns C Ring
Explanation:
Are Saturn's rings transparent?
The
Cassini spacecraft that recently entered orbit around
Saturn
has confirmed that some of
Saturn's rings
are more transparent than others.
Pictured above, Saturn's main
A, B, and C rings can be seen, top to bottom,
superposed against the gas giant planet.
Although the B-ring across the top is opaque, Saturn's
cloud tops can be clearly seen through the lower C-ring.
The translucent nature of the
C-ring likely indicates that it is less densely populated with ring particles
than the B-ring.
The
above image was taken on July 30 while Cassini was over 7 million kilometers
from Saturn.
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
