Ringside
Explanation:
Orbiting in the plane of
Saturn's rings,
Dione and the other icy saturnian moons have a perpetual
ringside view of the
gorgeous gas giant
planet.
Of course, while passing through the ring plane
the Cassini spacecraft also shares
their stunning
perspective.
The rings themselves can be seen slicing across the bottom of
this Cassini snapshot.
Remarkably thin,
the bright rings still cast arcing shadows
across the planet's cloud tops.
Pale
Dione, in the foreground, is
about 1,100 kilometers
across and orbits over 300,000 kilometers from the
visible outer edge of the A ring.
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.
