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Credit & Copyright: NASA,
ESA,
JPL-Caltech,
SSI,
Cassini Imaging Team;
Processing &
License:
Kevin M. Gill
Explanation:
What are those dots between Saturn's rings?
Our Earth and Moon.
Just over three years ago, because the
Sun
was temporarily blocked by the body of Saturn, the robotic
Cassini spacecraft was able to look toward the
inner Solar System.
There, it spotted our
Earth and
Moon --
just pin-pricks of light lying about 1.4 billion kilometers distant.
Toward the right of the
featured image is
Saturn's A
ring, with the broad
Encke Gap
on the far right and the narrower
Keeler Gap
toward the center.
On the far left is Saturn's continually changing
F Ring.
From
this perspective, the light seen from
Saturn's rings was scattered mostly forward ,
and so appeared backlit.
After more than a decade of exploration and discovery,
the Cassini spacecraft ran low on fuel in 2017 and was directed to
enter Saturn's atmosphere,
where it surely melted.
Gallery:
Notable Venus & Mercury Conjunction 2020 Images submitted to APOD
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NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day
Publications with keywords: Earth - Moon - Saturn
Publications with words: Earth - Moon - Saturn
See also: