Ringside with Titan and Dione
Explanation:
Orbiting in the plane of
Saturn's rings,
Saturnian moons have a perpetual ringside view of the
gorgeous gas giant planet.
Of course, while passing near the ring plane
the Cassini spacecraft also shares
their stunning
perspective.
The rings themselves can be seen slicing across the middle of
this Cassini snapshot from May of last year.
The scene
features Titan, largest,
and Dione,
third largest moon of Saturn.
Remarkably thin,
the bright rings still cast arcing shadows
across the planet's cloud tops at the bottom of the frame.
Pale
Dione is about 1,100 kilometers
across and orbits over 300,000 kilometers from the
visible outer edge of the A ring.
Dione is seen through Titan's
atmospheric haze.
At 5,150 kilometers across, Titan is about 2.3 million kilometers from
Cassini, while Dione is 3.2 million kilometers away.
Best Short Astronomy Videos:
APOD editor to speak in New York City on Friday, January 6
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
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LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
