The Saturn
probe Cassini has snapped a new set of haunting photographs of the ringed gas
giant as it circles the planet from some 846,000 miles out.
Now a year
into its first extended mission, Cassini has spent the last few months beaming
home the most detailed images of Saturn, its moons and the outer solar system
ever seen.
Composites
of images
taken through a wide angle lens with blue, green and red filters depict the
planet's rings and surface in natural color. The rings cast parallel shadows on
the planet's surface that bisect the hemispheres, captured in the latest colored
image that NASA released on April 24. The C and B rings dominate the foreground
as gently curved and striated bands of cream and earth tones. Below, the
planet's horizon darkens, fading from a ghostly yellow shimmer to the black of
space. The photographs were shot on February 28 at a distance of roughly 621,000
miles (1 million kilometers) from the surface.
Another image
reveals the sun-basking planet suspended amid a segment of its rings. The rings
are backlit and arch gracefully into space. They were brightened to enhance
visibility. These color-filtered images were captured on February 24 at a
distance of 538,000 miles (866,000 kilometers) from the surface.
The probe
began its 111th revolution around Saturn on May 2 at 846,000 miles (1.36
million kilometers) from the planet, its highest orbit to date. It will train
its cameras on star clusters to aid in calibration, then it will study Saturn's
poles and the larger rocky denizens of its rings.
The nuclear-powered spacecraft launched in 1997 as a joint United States and European mission. It traveled for seven years to reach Saturn where it
has orbited since June 2004. The mission was slated to end in 2008, but it was
extended until next year. Cassini is hardy, and its instruments have weathered
well, so it may be rewarded with new funding that would once again extend its
mission, this
time through 2017.
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