Looking Down on Saturn
Explanation:
This picture of
Saturn could not have been taken from
Earth. No
Earth
based picture could possibly view the night side of Saturn
and the corresponding shadow cast across
Saturn's rings.
Since
Earth is much closer to the
Sun than
Saturn, only the day
side of the planet is visible from the
Earth. In fact, this photo was taken
by the
Voyager 1 spacecraft as it flew by
Saturn
in November 1980. The
next spacecraft to approach
Saturn will be
Cassini which is currently
scheduled to be launched later this year and reach
Saturn in 2004.
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.
