Noodle Mosaic of Saturn
Explanation:
On April 26 the Cassini spacecraft swooped toward Saturn on
the first of its
Grand Finale dives between Saturn and rings.
In this
long, thin,
noodle mosaic, a rapid series of 137
low resolution images captured by Cassini's wide-angle camera track its
progress across the gas giant's swirling cloud tops.
The mosaic projection maps
the arc
along Saturn's atmospheric curve on to a flat image plane.
At top, the first mosaic panel is centered at 90 degrees north,
about 72,400 kilometers above Saturn's dark
north polar vortex.
As the mosaic progresses it narrows, the pixel scale
shrinking from 8.7 kilometers to 1 kilometer per pixel.
For the last panel, the spacecraft is 8,374 kilometers above
a region 18 degrees north of Saturn's equator.
Frame orientation changes near the bottom as Cassini rotates to
maneuver its large, dish-shaped, high-gain antenna forward,
providing a shield
before crossing Saturn's ring plane.
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.
