Sunlight Through Saturns Rings
Explanation:
Normally,
earth-bound astronomers view
Saturn's spectacular ring system
fully illuminated by reflected sunlight.
However,
this
intriguing picture
was made to take advantage of an
unusual orientation,
with the Sun actually illuminating the rings from below.
The three bright
ring features
are visible because the rings themselves are not solid.
Composed of many separate chunks of
rocky, icy material, the rings
allow the scattered sunlight to pass through them --
offering
a dramatic demonstration that they are
not continuous,
uninterrupted bands of material.
The
picture is a false-color composite based on Hubble
Space Telescope images recorded in November of 1995.
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.
