In the Shadow of Saturns Rings
Explanation:
Humanity's robot orbiting Saturn has recorded yet another amazing view.
That robot, or course, is the
spacecraft Cassini, while the new amazing view includes a
bright moon,
thin rings,
oddly broken clouds, and
warped shadows.
Titan, Saturn's largest
moon,
appears above
as a featureless tan as it is continually shrouded in thick clouds.
The
rings of Saturn
are seen as a thin line because they are so flat and imaged nearly edge on.
Details of Saturn's rings are therefore best visible in the
dark ring shadows visible across the giant planet's cloud
tops.
Since the ring
particles
orbit in the same plane as Titan, they appear to skewer the foreground moon,
In the upper hemisphere of Saturn, the clouds show many details, including
dips in long bright
bands
indicating disturbances in a high altitude jet stream.
Recent precise measurements of how much Titan
flexes as it orbits
Saturn hint that
vast
oceans
of water
might exist deep
underground.
APOD in Spanish: On the
web and through
Facebook
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.
