Saturn: the "Ringed Beauty" and His Moons
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The E-Ring - W00002680.jpgThe "E-Ring" from approx. 412.000 Km53 visiteUn'immagine davvero ravvicinata (sempre in termini spaziali, come ovvio...) dell'Anello "E" di Saturno, inquadrato da una distanza inferiore al mezzo milione di Km.
Una visione decisamente spettacolare ed enigmatica, davvero.
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The F-Ring - N00023767.jpgThe "F-Ring" of Saturn from approx. 544.000 Km53 visiteUna spettacolare ripresa (una delle tantissime, a dire il vero) del misterioso "F-Ring" di Saturno da una distanza - relativamente - breve: poco più di mezzo milione di Km. Svariati dettagli di questo enigmatico anello sono chiaramente visibili e, in particolare, potete vedere i cosiddetti "clumps", ossìa una specie di "grumi" di roccia e detriti che rendono irregolari alcune sezioni dell'anello (in particolare ce ne sono 4 assai ben visibili in basso ed alla Vostra Dx).
Sul margine superiore interno dell'Anello, alla Dx dell'Osservatore, si vede un puntino bianco che potrebbe essere (ma di questo non ne siamo certi) un altro "Ring Master" oppure, se preferite, una "Shepherd Moon". Due modi e due nomi diversi per indicare una piccolissima Luna di Saturno che, con la sua sola presenza, contribuisce a mantenere in equilibrio il sistema degli anelli - da un lato - e, talvolta, ad "incresparlo" - dall'altro.
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The F-Ring-PIA06144~1.jpgThe "F-Ring", alone55 visiteCaption NASA originale:"Zigzagging kinks and knots dance around Saturn in the F-Ring. From a great distance, as during Cassini's initial approach to Saturn in mid-2004, the F-Ring appears as a faint, knotted strand of material at the outer fringe of Saturn's immense ring system. From this close vantage point, just after the spacecraft rounded the planet to begin its second orbit, the F ring resolves into several ringlets with a bright central core. The core of the F ring is about 50 Km wide and is located at a distance of approximately 80.100 Km from Saturn's cloud tops".
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The F-Ring-PIA06600.jpgAttraction-Repulsion: the strange relationship between Prometheus and the F-Ring55 visiteCaption NASA originale:"Intriguing features resembling drapes and kinks are visible in this Cassini view of Saturn's thin F-Ring. Several distinct ringlets are present, in addition to the bright, knotted core of the ring.
The obvious structure in the ring and its strands has been caused by Prometheus, the inner F-Ring shepherd moon that recently swept past this region. (Prometheus is about 10° ahead of the F-Ring material in this image). These types of features were first seen in images taken just after Cassini entered into orbit around Saturn. The gravitational interaction of Prometheus (102 Km or 63 miles across) on the ring pulls material out the ring once every orbit (every 14,7 hours) as the moon gets close to the ring and its strands".
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The Rings & Rhea-PIA07655.jpgThe F-Ring and crescent Rhea55 visiteThe searing arc of light seen here is Saturn's icy F-Ring, seen nearly edge-on. In the background, Rhea is lit by reflected light from Saturn and the Rings, with only the slightest sliver of light at its bottom being from direct Sunlight.
The faint material surrounding the F-Ring likely lies in the Planet's equatorial plane, extending radially farther out and in from the main F-Ring core.
A smaller fraction of this material could be vertically extended, and Cassini's investigations should help to clarify this.
The image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on Oct. 30, 2005, at a distance of approximately 689.000 Km (about 428.000 miles) from Saturn. The image scale is approximately 4 Km (2 miles) per pixel.
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The Rings (Cassini division) after Orbital Ins..jpgThe "Cassini Division" after successful orbital insertion53 visitenessun commento
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The Rings from 19.436.000 Km.jpgThe Rings from app.x 19.436.000 Km53 visitenessun commento
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The Rings from 4.000.000 Km (Voyager 2).jpgThe Rings from Voyager 254 visitenessun commento
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The Rings from 6.274.000 Km.jpgThe Rings from app.x 6.274.000 Km53 visitenessun commento
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The Rings from 6.278.000 Km.jpgThe Rings from app.x 6.278.000 Km53 visitenessun commento
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The Rings from 6.279.000 Km.jpgThe Rings from app.x 6.279.000 Km53 visitenessun commento
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The Rings from 6.280.000 Km.jpgThe Rings from app.x 6.280.000 Km53 visitenessun commento
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