The 914-mile-wide Iapetus turns its darker side towards Cassini’s cameras in this photo, taken on March 3, 2009, while a hint of its brighter face shows along its northern edge. This moon of Saturn has the distinction of being coated in dark material on one side, and bright white material on the other. Theories…
Tag: Saturn
Following a Moon Shadow
I assembled this animation from 20 separate raw images, taken by Cassini on April 9th. It follows the elongated shadow of a moon, most likely Epimetheus (not officially specified), across the tops of Saturn’s rings. Beginning on the bright B ring the shadow moves across it, over the darker bands of the Cassini division,…
Hazed and Diffused
Cassini captured this intriguing glimpse into Titan’s thick haze during its latest flyby. Made up of complex hydrocarbons, formed from the breakdown of methane by solar radiation, this pale blue shroud extends hundreds of miles above the moon’s surface…ten times thicker, in fact, than our own atmosphere. This is a raw image from the…
Four Centuries of Discovery
I received a wonderfully written email today from Cassini Team Leader Carolyn Porco about the “100 Hours of Astronomy” event and how the Cassini team is joining the celebration by honoring the 4ooth year anniversary of Galileo’s first look at Saturn through his groundbreaking invention: the astronomical telescope. Here’s the note: Dear Friends and…
Crossing the Gap
These 6 frames made up of raw images from Cassini’s narrow-angle camera show the shadow of a moon – Epimetheus, perhaps? – drifting across the Encke Gap, a 200-mile-wide channel in Saturn’s A ring kept clear by the shepherd moon Pan. The central median ringlet is just visible in these images. With Saturn approaching…
Streaming Content
This 14-frame animation shows the effect of Prometheus on Saturn’s F ring as it travels alongside, its gravity pulling the ring material into streamers that trail in its wake. A clump of ring material leads in front of the moon on the opposite side of the ring. Honestly, I’m not sure what causes this…
A Twilight Moon
In addition to its enshrouding atmosphere, Saturn’s moon Titan also has a high layer of haze that encircles it. Made up of complex hydrocarbons from the breakdown of methane and nitrogen, this haze completely covers the moon and extends over 670 miles into space. 3,200 miles across, Titan’s atmosphere is 10 times thicker and…
Rock, Ice and Shadow
Rhea’s cratered surface appears in high relief in this photo from the Cassini orbiter, taken on February 2, 2009. (Click to view the full version.) Rhea (REE-ah) is Saturn’s second-largest moon, after Titan, but at 950 miles across compared 3,200, Rhea is dwarfed by her bigger brother. Still, Rhea has some interesting features….it is…
Ready For My Close-Up, Mister Cassini
In less than 9 hours the Cassini-Huygens spacecraft will conduct its next flyby of Saturn’s moon Titan, using its radar mapping instruments to pierce the moon’s thick atmosphere and reveal more information about surface features. In particular, tonight’s flyby will focus on a feature in Titan’s south polar region called “Ontario Lacus”. Originally mapped…
Once a Jet, Always a Jet
Cassini’s camera caught Enceladus in just the right light this past Saturday, backlit by the sun and showing off its signature icy jets. Emanating from fractures in its southern polar region, the jets are composed of water ices and hint at possible liquid water existing beneath its surface, kept liquid by heat from the…
The Shadows of Spring
As Saturn’s springtime approaches on August 11 it is gradually moving into a position when its rings will be perfectly aligned with its orbital plane, causing them to be lit by the sun edge-on. During the months until then many of the moons of Saturn will be casting their shadows upon the rings, fleeting…
A Primordial Moon
Another beautiful composite by Gordan Ugarkovic, this false-color image shows the ancient cratered surface of Saturn’s moon Phoebe. About 132 miles across, Phoebe is a fifteenth the size of our own moon but is thought to be much, much older. With its retrograde (backwards) orbit, high orbital incline and extremely dark, pitted surface, it’s…
Lights in the Dark 