mr-damon/saturn

The Cassini spacecraft looks upward from beneath the ringplane to spy the moon Mimas floating above the shadowed cloudtops of the Saturnian north.

This view looks toward the sunlit side of the rings from about 5 degrees below the ringplane. Mimas is 397 kilometers (247 miles) across. The rings themselves produce the shadows which, from this perspective, appear to overlay.

The image was taken with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on Sept. 18, 2007, using a spectral filter sensitive to wavelengths of infrared light centered at 750 nanometers. The view was acquired at a distance of approximately 3.4 million kilometers (2.1 million miles) from Saturn.

"There are four moons visible in this view. Tethys (1,071 kilometers, or 665 miles across), largest in the scene, is on the far side of the ringplane. Mimas (397 kilometers, or 247 miles across), is the one on the near side of the rings, below Tethys. Janus (181 kilometers, or 113 miles across), is left of the rings' edge. Pandora (84 kilometers, or 52 miles across) is a speck below the rings' edge, between Janus and Mimas. Mimas casts a shadow onto Saturn's bluish northern hemisphere."

"W00039433.jpg was taken on November 20, 2007 and received on Earth November 21, 2007. The camera was pointing toward SATURN-ERING at approximately 1,789,071 kilometers away."

Two of Saturn's icy attendants race past on their circuit of the ringed beauty.

Mimas (397 kilometers, or 247 miles across), with its prominent crater Herschel, is seen at right. The shepherd moon Pandora (84 kilometers, or 52 miles across) cruises along at center, just beyond Saturn's F ring. Orbiting nearly 44,000 kilolmeters (27,500 miles) closer to Saturn than its more distant neighbor, the swifter Pandora is about to overtake Mimas.

"Cassini puts the enormous distances in the Saturn system in perspective with this view of Rhea and Prometheus.

"Rhea (1,528 kilometers, or 949 miles across) sits in the foreground, while Prometheus (102 kilometers, or 63 miles across) lingers barely visible near the rings about 400,000 kilometers (250,000 miles) beyond. Saturn's cloud tops are about 80,000 kilometers (50,000 miles) farther still."

" W00036472.jpg was taken on September 27, 2007 and received on Earth September 28, 2007. The camera was pointing toward SATURN-RINGS at approximately 1,528,379 kilometers away."

"This stirring scene captures some of the grandeur of the Saturn system while also allowing a simultaneous glimpse beneath the hazes that cover both Saturn and Titan.

"The infrared view reveals bright, swirling clouds and zonal cloud bands in the giant planet's atmosphere, as well as a hint of the dark, equatorial terrain on Titan (5,150 kilometers, or 3,200 miles across). Dione (1,126 kilometers, or 700 miles across) is visible near right, on the far side of the ringplane. "

" W00026952.jpg was taken on April 09, 2007 and received on Earth April 10, 2007. The camera was pointing toward SATURN-RINGS at approximately 620,692 kilometers away."