Bruce Murray Space Image Library

Saturn and its Rings in Widescreen

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<p>This video comprises 600 photos taken by the Voyager 2 space probe as it bore down on the ringed planet in August 1981. Each frame of the film is actually a mosaic of 4 clear-filtered narrow angle camera (NAC) images. The color comes from a separate Orange-Green-Ultraviolet composite taken by Voyager some time prior to this sequence.</p><p>A variety of moons and ring spokes can be seen in motion as the film progresses, and it is notable that the spokes appear darker on the left ansa (this may be due to the phase angle). The middle portion of Saturn's disc was intentionally omitted by Voyager to ensure the rings were captured in their entirety in each 4-frame mosaic.</p>