Saturn: the "Ringed Beauty" and His Moons
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Saturn-PIA08890.jpgClouds & Clouds64 visiteCaption NASA:"Bright equatorial clouds give way to darker southern bands in this infrared Cassini spacecraft view taken with a filter sensitive to methane absorption in Saturn's Atmosphere.
Delicate shadows cast onto the Planet by its Inner Rings are visible at upper right.
A portion of the same Inner Rings are seen at lower right.
The image was taken with the Cassini spacecraft wide-angle camera using a combination of spectral filters sensitive to wavelengths of polarized infrared light.
The view was acquired on Jan. 14, 2007 at a distance of approx. 976.000 Km (about 606.000 miles) from Saturn.
Image scale is roughly 55 Km (about 34 miles) per pixel".
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Saturn-PIA08896.jpgThe Southern Latitudes and the South Pole of Saturn (Extremely Enhanced Natural Colors - elab. Lunexit)63 visiteCaption NASA:"Rippling with detail, the Southern Hemisphere of Saturn comes to life in this view from the Cassini spacecraft. Long, flowing streamers and bands of great contrast soften toward the Pole, where a great hurricane-like storm resides.
The image was taken with the Cassini spacecraft wide-angle camera using a spectral filter sensitive to wavelengths of infrared light centered at 890 nanometers.
The image was taken on Feb. 1, 2007 at a distance of approx. 945.000 Km (about 587.000 miles) from Saturn.
Image scale is roughly 53 Km (approx. 33 miles) per pixel".
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Saturn-PIA08911.jpgSaturn: the Ringed Beauty65 visiteCaption NASA:"(...) This infrared view from high above Saturn's Ring-Plane highlights the contrast in the cloud bands, the dimly glowing rings and their shadows on the Gas Giant Planet. The overall effect is stirring.
This view looks toward the unlit side of the Rings from about 48 above the Ring-Plane.
The image was taken with the Cassini spacecraft wide-angle camera using a combination of spectral filters sensitive to wavelengths of polarized infrared light.
The view was obtained on Feb. 12, 2007 at a distance of approx. 1,7 MKM (about 1 MMs) from Saturn and at a Sun-Saturn-spacecraft, or phase, angle of 144.
Image scale is roughly 191 Km (about 119 miles) per pixel".
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Saturn-PIA08923.jpgFrom South to North87 visiteCaption NASA:"The Cassini spacecraft gazes upward at the face of giant Saturn, seeing beyond the Equator to where ring shadows fall across the bluish Northern Latitudes.
This extreme southern view looks northward from about 58 below the Ring-Plane.
Images taken using red, green and blue spectral filters were combined to create this natural color view. The images were obtained with the Cassini spacecraft wide-angle camera on Feb. 1, 2007 at a distance of approx. 940.000 Km (abput 584.000 miles) from Saturn.
Image scale is roughly 106 Km (about 66 miles) per pixel".MareKromium
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Saturn-PIA08929.jpgSuncatcher70 visiteCaption NASA:"The Rings of Saturn glow softly as sunlight from below wends its way through. Some of the Sun's light bounces off the Rings' opposite side and can be seen illuminating Saturn's night side Southern Hemisphere.
Such a view is only possible from the Saturn-orbiting Cassini spacecraft.
This view looks toward the unilluminated side of the rings from about 33 above the Ring-Plane. Shadows of the innermost Rings are cast upon the Planet at upper left. The edge of Saturn's shadow cuts a straight line across the Rings near upper right.
The image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft wide-angle camera on March 30, 2007 at a distance of approx. 1,9 MKM (about 1,2 MMs) from Saturn. Image scale is roughly 117 Km (about 73 miles) per pixel".MareKromium
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Saturn-PIA08932.jpgThe bluish Northern Latitudes of Saturn (natural colors - elab. NASA)66 visiteCaption NASA:"In Saturn's bluish North, day ends for the dreamy white clouds that stretch here into twilight.
This natural color scene shows middle latitudes in Saturn's North at excellent resolution, and with little detectable blur due to spacecraft motion.
North on Saturn is up and rotated 22 to the right.
Images taken using red, green and blue spectral filters were combined to create this color view. The image was taken with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on April 1, 2007 at a distance of approx. 2 MKM (about 1,2 MMs) from Saturn and at a Sun-Saturn-spacecraft, or phase, angle of 86.
Image scale is roughly about 12 Km (approx. 7 miles) per pixel".MareKromium
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Saturn-PIA08933.jpgSaturnian Shadows65 visiteCaption NASA:"The Cassini spacecraft looks across Saturn's cloud-dotted North and shadowed Pole, and out across the lanes of ice that compose its Rings.
Prometheus is visible between the A and F-Rings near the center of the image.
This view looks toward the unilluminated side of the Rings from about 42 above the Ring-Plane. The Planet's shadow stretches toward the lower right corner.
The image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft wide-angle camera on April 1, 2007 at a distance of approx. 2 MKM (about 1,2 MMs) from Saturn.
Image scale is roughly 119 Km (about 74 miles) per pixel".MareKromium
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Saturn-PIA08934.jpgThe Upper Atmosphere of Saturn65 visiteCaption NASA:"Whorls, streamers and eddies play in the banded atmosphere of a Gas Giant. Strong image enhancement renders unto Saturn's clouds a grainy texture not unlike sandstone. However, the loss in delicate smoothness is compensated for by an increase in discernible detail.
The image was taken with the Cassini Spacecraft wide-angle camera using a combination of spectral filters sensitive to wavelengths of infrared light centered at 728 (green channel), 752 (red channel) and 890 (blue channel) nanometers. The semi-transparent red features across the image are clouds detected by the 752 nanometer filter. The view was acquired on Aug. 19, 2005 at a distance of approx. 492.000 Km (such as about 306.000 miles) from Saturn. Image scale is roughly 26 Km (about 16 miles) per pixel".MareKromium
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Saturn-PIA08936.jpgA Planetary "Smile", from Saturn...65 visiteCaption NASA:"Brooding Saturn seems to be missing its rings, but their shadows on the Planet betray their presence. The inner rings are in fact contained within this scene, but they are so tenuous as to be nearly invisible.
This view looks toward the unilluminated side of the Rings from about 52 above the Ring-Plane. Some motion is apparent in Saturn's clouds between the exposures used to create this color composite, as evidenced by the 'rainbow' effect seen here and there across the face of the Planet.
Images taken using red, green and blue spectral filters were combined to create this natural color view. The images were taken with the Cassini spacecraft wide-angle camera on April 5, 2007 at a distance of approx. 1,5 MKM (about 900.000 miles) from Saturn.
Image scale is roughly 84 Km (about 52 miles) per pixel".MareKromium
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Saturn-PIA08939.jpgCandy Stripes77 visiteCaption NASA:"This strongly enhanced false color view is a departure from the familiar bluish North and golden South seen in natural color Cassini spacecraft images, but the contrast between regions north and South of the Ring shadows is here more readily apparent.
The Northern Region is marked by a multitude of bright, patchy clouds.
The Region south of the Ring shadows contains the bright equatorial band seen in many monochrome Cassini views taken at infrared wavelengths (see PIA07590).
Taken just minutes after PIA08936, this view makes Saturn's Rings faintly visible at lower left. The false color enhancement brings out additional detail in the Planet's clouds that is not visible in the natural color view.
This view looks toward the unilluminated side of the Rings from about 52 above the Ring-Plane".MareKromium
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Saturn-PIA08942.jpgDeep Blue (IR view of the Rings)63 visiteThe Cassini spacecraft surveys Saturn's outstretched Ring System in the infrared from a vantage point high above the Planet's Northern Latitudes. Nearly the full expanse of the main rings is visible here -- from the C-Ring to the outer edge of the A-Ring (in the upper left corner).
Ring shadows are visible on the planet at lower left, and two large storms swirl near center.
This view looks toward the unilluminated side of the Rings from about 52 above the Ring-Plane.
The image was taken with the Cassini spacecraft wide-angle camera using a combination of spectral filters sensitive to wavelengths of infrared light centered at 752 (red channel), 890 (blue channel) and 728 (green channel) nanometers.
The view was acquired on April 5, 2007 at a distance of approx. 1,4 MKM (about 900.000 miles) from Saturn. Image scale is roughly 81 Km (approx. 51 miles) per pixel.MareKromium
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Saturn-PIA08944-00.jpgPrometheus Makes Contact (natural colors - elab. NASA)67 visiteCaption NASA:"The F-Ring shepherd moon Prometheus touches the face of Saturn once more before moving off into blackness and continuing in its orbit.
The F-Ring itself is visible as a thin line just below Prometheus (which is about 102 Km, or approx. 63 miles across).
This view looks toward the unilluminated side of the Rings from about 18 above the Ring-Plane. North on Saturn is up and rotated about 30 to the right.
Images taken using red, green and blue spectral filters were combined to create this natural color view.
The images were obtained by the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on April 13, 2007 at a distance of approx. 1,7 MKM (such as a little more than 1 MMs) from Prometheus and 1,8 MKM (such about 1,1 MMs) from Saturn.
Image scale is roughly 10 Km (6 miles) per pixel".MareKromium
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