Infrared Saturn
Explanation:
This delightfully detailed
false color image of Saturn
has been
earmarked to
celebrate the 8th anniversary of the orbiting Hubble Space Telescope.
The picture is a combination of three images taken in January of this year
with the Hubble's new
NICMOS instrument and shows the lovely ringed planet in reflected
infrared light.
Different colors indicated varying heights and compositions of cloud
layers generally thought to consist of ammonia ice crystals.
The eye-catching rings cast a shadow
on Saturn's upper hemisphere,
while the bright stripe seen within the left portion of the shadow
is infrared
sunlight streaming through the large
gap in the rings known
as the
Cassini Division.
Two of
Saturn's many moons have also put in an appearance,
Tethys just
beyond the planet's disk at the upper right, and Dione at the lower left.
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
