Neon Saturn
Explanation:
If seen in the right light, Saturn glows like a neon sign.
Although Saturn has comparatively little of the
element neon, a
composite image
false-colored in three bands of
infrared light highlights features of the giant ringed planet like a
glowing sign.
At the most blue band of the infrared light featured, false-colored blue in the
above image,
Saturn itself appears dark but
Saturn's thin rings brightly reflect light from our Sun.
Conversely,
Saturn's B ring
is so thick that little reflected light makes it through, creating a dark band between
Saturn's A and C rings.
At the most red band of the infrared, false-colored red above,
Saturn emits a surprisingly detailed
thermal glow,
indicating planet-wide bands, huge hurricane-like storms, and a
strange hexagon-shaped cloud system around the
North Pole.
In the middle infrared band, false-colored green,
the sunlit side of Saturn's atmosphere reflects brightly.
The
above image
was obtained in 2007 by the
robotic
Cassini spacecraft orbiting about 1.6 million kilometers out from Saturn.
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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.
