Space Topics: Saturn
The Year in Pictures: 2005
Cassini Captures Artful Grouping of Saturn, Moon, Rings, and Shadows
Credit: NASA / JPL / Space Science Institute |
October 11. Not all of Cassini's pictures are captured for scientific
purposes alone. Some
are specifically planned for their expected aesthetic beauty. Cassini
took the images for this view as it approached for its October 11 encounter
with Dione, one of the larger moons
of Saturn. The view was carefully
timed so that, at the same moment, the edge of Saturn's vast yellow globe would
appear in the background. Because Cassini's position was very nearly
in the plane of Saturn's rings, Saturn's
vast ring system is compressed into
a triplet of beige lines crossing the globe. However, the rings reveal
their complex structure in the shadows they cast across Saturn's northern hemisphere. The
fine lines crossing behind Dione are the shadows of Saturn's tenuous C ring,
while the dark band is the shadow of the much more opaque B ring. Mission
planners have programmed dozens of such artistic views into Cassini's
4-year tour.
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