Released November 9, 2009, this image from Cassini shows the northern night side of Saturn sending a deep shadow across its rings while the 700-mile-wide Dione looks on. The shepherd moon Pandora can be seen here as well, orbiting just outside the thin F ring, at center. The Cassini spacecraft was over 800,000 miles from…
Tag: rings
Along the Edge
Moons Rhea and Enceladus orbit along the ringplane in this view from Cassini, taken November 6, 2009. That is, I think it’s Rhea and Enceladus in this image. It’s hard to tell for sure from this distance. (Cassini was over 1.2 million miles from Saturn when this was shot.) If anyone knows for sure, I’m…
No Editing Required
This raw image from Cassini requires no editing to be presentable…..it’s simply a beautiful shot of Mimas hovering in front of the rings with Saturn’s shadow cast across them. Simple, untouched beauty at its best. That little Cassini….he’s getting good at this. 🙂 Image: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute
Full Spectrum
A beautiful natural-color calibrated image by Gordan Ugarkovic, showing the many subtle and varied hues of Saturn’s atmosphere and rings. Image: NASA/JPL/SSI/Gordan Ugarkovic.
Just Passing By
Tethys, shown in my previous post, orbits Saturn outside the rings in this animation made from 17 raw images taken by Cassini. After passing the dark side of Saturn Tethys follows the curve of the rings, and is passed on the “inside track” by the smaller Mimas (top). Meanwhile another moon, perhaps Atlas or Pandora,…
Spokes and Shadows
This animation, made up of several raw images from the Cassini spacecraft, shows the mysterious features known as spokes in Saturn’s B ring. These spokes, thicker regions of material within the otherwise uniform rings, were first observed by Voyager in 1980 and have yet to be have their mechanics explained by scientists. Theories range from…
A Fresh Perspective
Prometheus’ shadow slices through the strands of Saturn’s F ring in this low-angle view from the Cassini orbiter. The sunlit shepherd moon is a bit overexposed in this image, in order to capture the bands of the rings. This view is looking outwards across the edge of the B ring (at lower left), the darker…
Around the Track
Shepherd moons Prometheus and Daphnis race around Saturn’s rings within their respective gaps, affecting the ring material in their own distinct ways. Prometheus, on the left side, pulls the bright, ropy F ring into streamers while tiny Daphnis, embedded in the 25-mile-wide Keeler gap at lower center, sends up a mound of darker A ring…
Worlds Great and Small
A wonderful raw image from the Cassini spacecraft showing a crescent-lit Saturn and one of its 61 known moons. Honestly I’m not sure which moon this is. Could be Tethys, could be Titan, it’s hard to make out in this wide-angle view. Also in crescent, its night side is dimly lit by reflected “Saturnshine”. Cassini…
Rings in Relief
This wide-angle view from Cassini, taken on August 16 (2009), shows an amazing amount of relief across the surface of Saturn’s A ring as well as a long shadow cast by the wake of the shepherd moon Daphnis within the Keeler gap. 4.3-mile-wide Daphnis, almost too small to be seen here, sculpts the edges of…
Thin Grey Line
Saturn’s expansive rings cast but a thin line of a shadow across its equator in this beautiful high-angle view taken by Cassini on July 18, 2009. The rings, normally overexposed in images to make them more visible, are instead underexposed here so some of the details of Saturn’s atmosphere can be seen. Intricate banding of…
Shepherds Passing
 Without as much as a wave shepherd moons Prometheus and Atlas pass by each other, each on their own paths around the rings. Prometheus, casting a long shadow,  pulls at the F ring’s bands of material while smaller Atlas guards the edges of the A ring. The larger is 93 miles across at its…
Lights in the Dark 