Moons, Rings, Shadows, Clouds: Saturn (Cassini)
Explanation:
While cruising around Saturn,
be on the lookout for picturesque juxtapositions of moons, rings, and shadows.
One quite picturesque arrangement
occurred in 2005 and was captured by
the then
Saturn-orbiting Cassini spacecraft.
In the featured image, moons
Tethys and
Mimas
are visible on either side of
Saturn's thin rings, which are seen nearly edge-on.
Across the top of
Saturn are dark
shadows of the wide rings,
exhibiting their impressive complexity.
The
violet-light image brings up the texture of the backdrop:
Saturn's clouds.
Cassini orbited Saturn
from 2004 until September of last year, when the
robotic spacecraft was directed to dive into Saturn to keep it from
contaminating any moons.
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.
