NASA’s Cassini-Huygens orbiter has been up there for nearly twenty years, and it’s still delivering glimpses of Saturn that stuns most observers. But in its latest orbit it crossed through Saturn's rings on Monday at 13:09 GMT (8:09 EST), completing the first of 20 orbits and has sent back some stunning and breathtaking pictures ever of the rings of Saturn.
Cassini's imaging cameras acquired these latest views between Dec. 2 and 5 2016, about two days before the first ring-grazing approach to the planet
The photos were taken at a distance of 400,000 miles from the surface of the planet, and originally have a resolution of just 256 by 256 pixels, space camera technology just wasn’t all that great back in 1997, when it was launched for the first time.
Resolution aside, Cassini’s camera is capable capturing its photos through several different filters, each of which is particularly sensitive to certain wavelengths. The resulting photos show the layers of cloud cover that make up the gas giant’s exterior.
With less than a year left to go in its mission, Cassini’s new orbits mark the start of special maneuvers that could offer scientists fresh insight into the evolution of the planet’s moons and iconic rings.
Carolyn Porco, Cassini imaging team lead at Space Science Institute, Boulder, Colorado, had the following to say
This is it, the beginning of the end of our historic exploration of Saturn. Let these images -- and those to come -- remind you that we've lived a bold and daring adventure around the solar system's most magnificent planet.
The spacecraft began the newest and last phase of its mission on November 30, which will see it perform various daredevil-type manoeuvres every seven days through Saturn's rings, before being destroyed in the planet's atmosphere on September 15, 2017.
- http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-4009938/From-Saturn-s-atmosphere-icy-halos-Cassini-captures-stunning-images-ring-grazing-orbit.html
- http://www.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-cassini-saturn-pictures-20161207-story.html
- http://bgr.com/2016/12/07/saturn-pictures-nasa-cassini-photos/
- https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/12/161207155755.htm
- http://www.huffingtonpost.com.au/2016/12/07/these-new-photos-of-saturn-are-literally-out-of-this-world/
- http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/health-science/cassini-saturn-probe-sends-images-from-ringgrazing-mission/news-story/2e52856b8ed24bea62d9fa987950ce75
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thanks for sharing this. im a huge astronomy nutjob. I am glad to see this will have to check out the links and get the scoop and check out all the new images. upvoted and following
Thank you, and I must say I am equally excited about space and I just "sit and stare" at photos from out there :)
awesome to have a fellow space head on here, I look forward to all your posts on the subject.
Thanks!
Thanks for the post. Don't always understand what is going on out in space, but it sure is fascinating. So much to learn.
Yes the word is "fascinating", and for lay people like me, it is not really easy to comprehend, but the pictures make it easy to just stare at!