Saturn: the "Ringed Beauty" and His Moons
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The_Rings-PIA08878.jpgThe "F-Ring", sinking in the shadows... (elab. Lunexit)89 visiteCaption NASA:"The strands of Saturn's F-Ring disappear into the darkness of the Planet's shadow.
Background stars make trails across the sky during the long exposure. This view looks toward the unlit side of the Rings from about 55 above the Ring-Plane.
The image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on Jan. 3, 2007 at a distance of approx. 1,4 MKM (such as about 900.000 miles) from Saturn and at a Sun-Saturn-spacecraft, or phase, angle of 108.
Image scale is roughly 8 Km (about 5 miles) per pixel".
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The_Rings-PIA08882.jpgDisturbances...73 visiteCaption NASA:"Daphnis cruises through the Keeler Gap, raising edge waves in the ring material as it passes.
As is characteristic of waves raised by a moon on the edges of a very narrow gap like Keeler, the wave begins as a coherent form near Daphnis and becomes less so with increasing orbital distance from the moon. Daphnis is about 7 Km (4,3 miles) across.
This view looks upon the lit side of the Rings from about 31 below the Ring-Plane.
The image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on Jan. 17, 2007 at a distance of approx. 768.000 Km (about 477.000 miles) from Daphnis. Image scale is roughly 5 Km (about 3 miles) per pixel".MareKromium
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The_Rings-PIA08887.jpgHeading to the Darkness68 visiteCaption NASA:"This strikingly crisp view shows Atlas heading into Saturn's shadow at upper left. The moon's basic, elongated shape is easy to detect here. Above Atlas, a bright clump in the F-Ring also heads toward the darkness. This view looks toward the unlit side of the Rings from about 30 above the Ring-Plane.
The image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on Jan. 19, 2007 at a distance of approx. 1,2 MKM (about 700.000 miles) from Atlas. Image scale is roughly 7 Km (about 4 miles) per pixel".
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The_Rings-PIA08900.jpgThe "beginnings" of the Rings69 visiteCaption NASA:"High above the streamers of cloud in Saturn's atmosphere the Planet's immense Ring System begins with faint, thin rings populated with dust-sized ice particles. Here, features in the D-Ring are visible, beginning at about 67.000 Km (approx. 42.000 miles) from the Planet's center.
Stars trail across the background during this exposure, timed to capture the faint light from these D-Ring features.
This view looks toward the unlit side of the Rings, from about 59 above the Ring-Plane.
The image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on Feb. 9, 2007 at a distance of approx. 1,7 MKM (1,1 MMs) from Saturn.
Image scale is roughly 10 Km (about 6 miles) per pixel".
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The_Rings-PIA08901.jpgThe "Cassini Division"69 visiteCaption NASA:"The Cassini Division appears to emerge out of Saturn's shadow in this Cassini spacecraft image. This Division between the A and B Rings, visible through modest telescopes from Earth, actually contains five dim bands of ring material, here seen near the left side of the image between two small dark gaps.
This detailed view also displays a great deal of structure in the B-Ring, left of the Division. The Cassini Division is 4800 Km (2980 miles) wide. This view looks toward the unlit side of the Rings from about 59 above the Ring-Plane.
The image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on Feb. 9, 2007 at a distance of approx. 1,7 MKM (about 1,1 MMs) from Saturn.
Image scale is roughly 10 Km (about 6 miles) per pixel".
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The_Rings-PIA08903.jpgF-Ring or just "Saturnian Neon-Lights"?...110 visiteCaption NASA:"Bright strands in Saturn's ever changing F-Ring emerge from the Planet's shadow. The F-Ring usually has a single bright core, about 50 Km (31 miles) across, but the section of the ring seen here appears to have a second bright strand.
Several background stars are visible by the trails they created while the image was being exposed.
This view looks toward the unlit side of the Rings from about 59 above the Ring-Plane.
The image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on Feb. 9, 2007 at a distance of approx. 1,7 MKM (about 1,1 MMs) from Saturn.
Image scale is roughly 10 Km (about 6 miles) per pixel".
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The_Rings-PIA08905.jpgClumps in the F-Ring80 visiteCaption NASA:"The brilliant core of the F-Ring displays a breakaway clump of material, possibly related to the other objects the Cassini spacecraft has witnessed in this dynamic Ring in the past few years of observations.
This view looks toward the unlit side of the Rings from about 58 above the Ring-Plane.
The image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on Feb. 10, 2007 at a distance of approx. 1,7 MKM (1,1 MMs) from Saturn.
Image scale is roughly 10 Km (about 6 miles) per pixel".MareKromium
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The_Rings-PIA08908.jpgA huge clump in the F-Ring78 visiteCaption NASA:"The F-Ring dissolves into a fuzzy stream of particles -- rather different from its usual appearance of a narrow, bright core flanked by dimmer ringlets.
Also notable here is the bright clump of material that flanks the Ring's core.
This view looks toward the unlit side of the rings from about 58 above the Ring-Plane.
The image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on Feb. 10, 2007 at a distance of approx. 1,7 MKM (such about 1,1 MMs) from Saturn. Image scale is roughly 10 Km (about 6 miles) per pixel".
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The_Rings-PIA08920.jpgSome in the Darkness, some in the Light...78 visiteCaption NASA:"Pan prepares to be engulfed by the darkness of Saturn's shadow, visible here as it stretches across the Rings.
When the Cassini spacecraft took a follow-up image of this same location about 50 seconds later, Pan (26 kilometers, or 16 miles across) had vanished into darkness.
This view looks toward the unilluminated side of the Rings from about 44 above the Ring-Plane.
The image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on March 14, 2007 at a distance of approx. 1,9 MKM (about 1,2 MMs) from Pan. Image scale is roughly 11 Km (about 7 miles) per pixel".MareKromium
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The_Rings-PIA08941.jpgDaphnis, Atlas and the Rings72 visiteCaption NASA:"Across the expanse of Saturn's Rings, the Cassini spacecraft spies 2 small moons in consort.
Atlas is seen exterior to the bright outer edge of the A-Ring. Daphnis, below Atlas in this view, orbits Saturn within the narrow Keeler Gap. The presence of Daphnis is revealed by the waves it raises in the ring material surrounding it on the edges of the gap. Daphnis and its waves moved between exposures taken to create this color view, resulting in their slight displacement in each color.
This view looks toward the unilluminated side of the Rings from about 18 above the Ring-Plane. Bright clumps are visible in the narrow F-Ring.
Images taken using red, green and blue spectral filters were combined to create this natural color view. The images were acquired with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on April 13, 2007 at a distance of approx. 1,8 MKM (about 1,1 MMs) from Atlas.
Image scale is roughly 11 Km (about 7 miles) per pixel".MareKromium
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The_Rings-PIA08985.jpgMoons...70 visiteCaption NASA:"The effects of three of Saturn's Ring Moons can be spotted in this single narrow-angle camera view.
The image has been strongly enhanced to better show the wakes on both sides of the Encke Gap caused by Pan (left of center), as well as a hint of the edge waves in the narrow Keeler Gap caused by Daphnis (just below center).
Bright Prometheus (on the right) pulls away from its latest close encounter with the F-Ring. The aftereffects of its recent passes are visible in the Ring's inner edge.
This view looks toward the unilluminated side of the Rings from about 10 above the Ping-Plane.
Saturn's shadow cuts across the Rings at the top of the scene.
The image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on June 5, 2007 at a distance of approx. 2,3 MKM (about 1,4 MMs) from Pan.
Image scale is about 13 Km (approx. 8 miles) per pixel".MareKromium
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The_Rings-PIA08988.jpgBright Region in the C-Ring84 visiteCaption NASA:"This bright, isolated plateau in the middle of the C-Ring displays interesting internal variations in brightness. The plateau is not high in terms of elevation, but rather in terms of its particle density (seen here as brightness), which is several times higher than the surrounding Ring Structure.
Ring scientists are working to understand what produces the sharp boundaries of the plateau features, as well as the nature of the internal variations in brightness.
This view looks toward the sunlit side of the Rings from about 18 below the Ring-Plane.
The image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on June 12, 2007 at a distance of approx. 230.000 Km (about 143.000 miles) from Saturn. Image scale is roughly 1 Km (3353 feet) per pixel".MareKromium
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