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The Cassini spacecraft took
this image of Saturn in blue light on Feb. 29. It was released Friday. The craft
is due to reach Saturn’s orbit on July 1.
Several bands and spots
in Saturn's atmosphere are visible, including a dark band south of equator with
a scalloped southern border.
Full-color images are made
by taking separate exposures in red, green and blue light, and then combining
them. Astronomers sometimes use images made in one color to study certain features.
White regions contain material
reflecting in the blue; dark regions contain material absorbing in the blue.
This reflecting/absorbing behavior is controlled by the composition of the cloud's
colored material, which is still a mystery and one which may be answered by
Cassini. The differing concentrations of this material across the planet is
responsible for its banded appearance in the visible region of the electromagnetic
spectrum.
The distance to Saturn was
37.2 million miles (59.9 million kilometers) when the picture was made.
Credit: NASA/JPL/Space
Science Institute
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