Saturn's rings cast suave shadows across the planet's northern
hemisphere in this image taken by the Cassini spacecraft
Saturn's
rings cast suave shadows across the planet's northern hemisphere in this image
taken by the Cassini spacecraft.
The ring
shadows may blot out most of the light striking Saturn here, but three bright
arcs of light depict the well-known gaps in the ring system.
The widest
gap, known as the Cassini Division, allows the broad swath of light at the
bottom of the three arcs. Moving upwards in this image, the gaps are thinner.
Just above the Cassini Division is the Encke Gap, followed by the Keeler Gap.
While this
image was released on Dec. 14, 2005, Cassini’s wide-angle camera actually snapped
the photograph on Oct. 29, 2005 from a distance of about 277,000 miles (446,000
kilometers).
-- SPACE.com Staff
Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science
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