Galerie de photos des anneaux de la planète Saturne

<h1>PIA07630: The Face-off</h1><div class="PIA07630" lang="en" style="width:800px;text-align:left;margin:auto;background-color:#000;padding:10px;max-height:150px;overflow:auto;"><p>The moons Dione and Tethys face each other across the gulf of Saturn's rings. Here, the Cassini spacecraft looks on the Saturn-facing hemisphere of Tethys below and the anti-Saturn side of Dione above. The dark groove in the rings is the Cassini Division.</p><p>Tethys is 1,071 kilometers (665 miles) across, while Dione is 1,126 kilometers (700 miles) across.</p><p>This image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on Sept. 22, 2005, at a distance of approximately 860,000 kilometers (530,000 miles) from Dione. Tethys was on the far side of the rings, 1.5 million kilometers (900,000 miles) from Cassini. The image scale is 5 kilometers (3 miles) per pixel on Dione and 9 kilometers (6 miles) per pixel on Tethys.</p><p>The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras were designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The imaging operations center is based at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colo.</p><p>For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit <a href="http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov">http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov</a>. The Cassini imaging team homepage is at <a href="http://ciclops.org">http://ciclops.org</a>.</p><br /><br /><a href="http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA07630" onclick="window.open(this.href); return false;" title="Voir l'image PIA07630: The Face-off sur le site de la NASA">Voir l'image PIA07630: The Face-off sur le site de la NASA.</a></div>
PIA07630: The Face-off
<h1>PIA07631: Graceful Lanes of Ice</h1><div class="PIA07631" lang="en" style="width:800px;text-align:left;margin:auto;background-color:#000;padding:10px;max-height:150px;overflow:auto;"><p>The dark Cassini Division, within Saturn's rings, contains a great deal of structure, as seen in this color image. The sharp inner boundary of the division (left of center) is the outer edge of the massive B ring and is maintained by the gravitational influence of the moon Mimas.<p><p>Spectroscopic observations by Cassini indicate that the Cassini Division, similar to the C ring, contains more contaminated ice than do the B and A rings on either side. <p><p>This view is centered on a region approximately 118,500 kilometers (73,600 miles) from Saturn's center. (Saturn is 120,500-kilometers-wide (74,900 miles) at its equator.) From left to right, the image spans approximately 11,000 kilometers (6,800 miles) across the ringplane.<p><p>A closer view of the outer edge of the Cassini Division can be seen in <a href="/catalog/PIA07616">PIA07616</a>).<p><p>Images taken using red, green and blue spectral filters were combined to create this view, which approximates what the human eye might see. The image was taken with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on May 18, 2005, at a distance of approximately 1.6 million kilometers (1 million miles) from Saturn. The image scale is 9 kilometers (6 miles) per pixel.<p><p>The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras were designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The imaging operations center is based at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colo.</p><p>For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit <a href="http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov">http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov</a>. The Cassini imaging team homepage is at <a href="http://ciclops.org">http://ciclops.org</a>.</p><br /><br /><a href="http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA07631" onclick="window.open(this.href); return false;" title="Voir l'image PIA07631: Graceful Lanes of Ice sur le site de la NASA">Voir l'image PIA07631: Graceful Lanes of Ice sur le site de la NASA.</a></div>
PIA07631: Graceful Lanes of Ice
<h1>PIA07643: G Ring Aglow</h1><div class="PIA07643" lang="en" style="width:800px;text-align:left;margin:auto;background-color:#000;padding:10px;max-height:150px;overflow:auto;"><p>Saturn's G ring glows like a neon garland in this lovely narrow angle camera image from Cassini. The comparison between the diffuse outer boundary and the sharp inner edge of this ring, which consists of fine, dust-sized icy particles, is particularly noteworthy. Close Cassini views such as this should provide ring scientists with clues about how this ring is produced and confined.</p><p>The G ring extends from 166,000 to 173,200 kilometers (103,100 to 107,600 miles) from Saturn's center. (Saturn is 120,500 kilometers [74,900 miles] wide at its equator.)</p><p>The image was taken in visible light with the Cassini narrow-angle camera on Oct. 24, 2005, at a distance of approximately 2.1 million kilometers (1.3 million miles) from Saturn. The image scale is 12 kilometers (8 miles) per pixel.</p><p>The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras were designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The imaging operations center is based at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colo.</p></p>For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit <a href="http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov">http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov</a>. The Cassini imaging team homepage is at <a href="http://ciclops.org">http://ciclops.org</a>.</p><br /><br /><a href="http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA07643" onclick="window.open(this.href); return false;" title="Voir l'image PIA07643: G Ring Aglow sur le site de la NASA">Voir l'image PIA07643: G Ring Aglow sur le site de la NASA.</a></div>
PIA07643: G Ring Aglow
<h1>PIA07644: When Moons Align</h1><div class="PIA07644" lang="en" style="width:800px;text-align:left;margin:auto;background-color:#000;padding:10px;max-height:150px;overflow:auto;"><p>In a rare moment, the Cassini spacecraft captured this enduring portrait of a near-alignment of four of Saturn's restless moons. Timing is critical when trying to capture a view of multiple bodies, like this one. All four of the moons seen here were on the far side of the rings from the spacecraft when this image was taken; and about an hour later, all four had disappeared behind Saturn.</p><p>Seen here are Titan (5,150 kilometers, or 3,200 miles across) and Dione (1,126 kilometers, or 700 miles across) at bottom; Prometheus (102 kilometers, or 63 miles across) hugs the rings at center; Telesto (24 kilometers, or 15 miles across) is a mere speck in the darkness above center.</p><p>This image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on Oct. 17, 2005, at a distance of approximately 3.4 million kilometers (2.1 million miles) from Titan and 2.5 million kilometers (1.6 million miles) from Dione. The image scale is 16 kilometers (10 miles) per pixel on Dione and 21 kilometers (13 miles) per pixel on Titan.</p><p>The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras were designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The imaging operations center is based at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colo.</p></p>For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit <a href="http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov">http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov</a>. The Cassini imaging team homepage is at <a href="http://ciclops.org">http://ciclops.org</a>.</p><br /><br /><a href="http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA07644" onclick="window.open(this.href); return false;" title="Voir l'image PIA07644: When Moons Align sur le site de la NASA">Voir l'image PIA07644: When Moons Align sur le site de la NASA.</a></div>
PIA07644: When Moons Align
<h1>PIA07651: On the Edge</h1><div class="PIA07651" lang="en" style="width:668px;text-align:left;margin:auto;background-color:#000;padding:10px;max-height:150px;overflow:auto;"><p>Viewing Saturn's rings very close to edge-on produces some puzzling effects, as these two images of the F ring demonstrate.</p><p>The upper image was acquired from less than a tenth of a degree beneath the ringplane and shows a mysterious bulge. Such a feature has not been seen previously by the Cassini spacecraft from this angle. It is possible that, because of the very shallow viewing angle, the Cassini spacecraft's view takes a long path through the ring, making very faint material visible. It also may be that an embedded object of a kilometer or so in size stirs up the neighboring ring particles to create a bulge. Alternatively, an impact into an embedded moonlet that was covered with debris could produce a cloud like this.</p><p>Images taken by the Voyager spacecrafts showed clumps that might have been produced in these ways. Cassini's investigations will help to determine the vertical extent of such clumps and understand their origins.</p><p>The lower image was obtained from less than a hundredth of a degree beneath the ringplane. Across the center of the rings is a dark lane, giving them an appearance not unlike that of a spiral galaxy, seen edge-on.</p><p>Both images were taken using the clear spectral filters (predominantly visible light) on the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera. The images have been magnified by a factor of two.The top image was obtained at a distance of 3.6 million kilometers (2.2 million miles) from Saturn on Nov. 11, 2005 and shows wispy fractures on Dione's trailing hemisphere. The image scale is 22 kilometers (14 miles) per pixel. The bottom image was acquired at a distance of 2.5 million kilometers (1.6 million miles) from Saturn on Nov. 5, 2005. The image scale is 15 kilometers (9 miles) per pixel.</p><p>The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras were designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The imaging operations center is based at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colo.</p></p>For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit <a href="http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov">http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov</a>. The Cassini imaging team homepage is at <a href="http://ciclops.org">http://ciclops.org</a>.</p><br /><br /><a href="http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA07651" onclick="window.open(this.href); return false;" title="Voir l'image PIA07651: On the Edge sur le site de la NASA">Voir l'image PIA07651: On the Edge sur le site de la NASA.</a></div>
PIA07651: On the Edge
<h1>PIA07652: Gaps in the Darkness</h1><div class="PIA07652" lang="en" style="width:800px;text-align:left;margin:auto;background-color:#000;padding:10px;max-height:150px;overflow:auto;"><p>Saturn's rings throw imposing shadows and relegate parts of the planet's northern regions to darkness. Three thin and bright arcs in this scene represent three well-known gaps in the immense ring system. From bottom to top here (and widest to thinnest) they are the Cassini Division, the Encke Gap and the Keeler Gap.</p><p>The image was taken in infrared light (752 nanometers) using the Cassini spacecraft wide-angle camera on Oct. 29, 2005, at a distance of approximately 446,000 kilometers (277,000 miles) from Saturn. The image scale is 23 kilometers (14 miles) per pixel. The image was contrast enhanced to improve visibility of features in the atmosphere.</p><p>The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras were designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The imaging operations center is based at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colo.</p></p>For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit <a href="http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov">http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov</a>. The Cassini imaging team homepage is at <a href="http://ciclops.org">http://ciclops.org</a>.</p><br /><br /><a href="http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA07652" onclick="window.open(this.href); return false;" title="Voir l'image PIA07652: Gaps in the Darkness sur le site de la NASA">Voir l'image PIA07652: Gaps in the Darkness sur le site de la NASA.</a></div>
PIA07652: Gaps in the Darkness
<h1>PIA07653: Close to the Shepherd Moons</h1><div class="PIA07653" lang="en" style="width:800px;text-align:left;margin:auto;background-color:#000;padding:10px;max-height:150px;overflow:auto;"><p>This spectacular image shows Prometheus (at right) and Pandora (at left), with their flock of icy ring particles (the F ring) between them. Pandora is exterior to the ring, and closer to the spacecraft here. Each of the shepherd satellites has an unusual shape, with a few craters clearly visible.</p><p>The effect of Prometheus (102 kilometers, or 63 miles across) on the F ring is visible as it pulls material out of the ring when it is farthest from Saturn in its orbit. Pandora is 84 kilometers (52 miles) across.</p><p>The image was taken in polarized green light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on Oct. 29, 2005, at a distance of approximately 459,000 kilometers (285,000 miles) from Pandora and 483,500 kilometers (300,500 miles) from Prometheus. The image scale is 3 kilometers (2 miles) per pixel on Pandora and 3 kilometers (2 miles) per pixel on Prometheus. The view was acquired from about a third of a degree below the ringplane.</p><p>The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras were designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The imaging operations center is based at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colo.</p></p>For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit <a href="http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov">http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov</a>. The Cassini imaging team homepage is at <a href="http://ciclops.org">http://ciclops.org</a>.</p><br /><br /><a href="http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA07653" onclick="window.open(this.href); return false;" title="Voir l'image PIA07653: Close to the Shepherd Moons sur le site de la NASA">Voir l'image PIA07653: Close to the Shepherd Moons sur le site de la NASA.</a></div>
PIA07653: Close to the Shepherd Moons
<h1>PIA07654: One Moon Among Billions</h1><div class="PIA07654" lang="en" style="width:615px;text-align:left;margin:auto;background-color:#000;padding:10px;max-height:150px;overflow:auto;"><p>Sunlight reflects off the bright, frozen surfaces of the billions and billions of particles comprising Saturn's rings to brighten the planet's southern skies. </p><p>The particles in Saturn's rings are each too small to be seen by Cassini in this image. If they could, each would look like the bright reflective crescent of Enceladus (505 kilometers, 314 miles across) seen here, with each reflecting sunlight onto the southern hemisphere of the planet.</p><p>The image was taken in polarized infrared light with the Cassini spacecraft wide-angle camera on Nov. 2, 2005, at a distance of approximately 1.7 million kilometers (1.1 million miles) from Saturn and at a Sun-Saturn-spacecraft, or phase, angle of 119 degrees. The image scale is 104 kilometers (65 miles) per pixel.</p><p>The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras were designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The imaging operations center is based at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colo.</p></p>For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit <a href="http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov">http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov</a>. The Cassini imaging team homepage is at <a href="http://ciclops.org">http://ciclops.org</a>.</p><br /><br /><a href="http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA07654" onclick="window.open(this.href); return false;" title="Voir l'image PIA07654: One Moon Among Billions sur le site de la NASA">Voir l'image PIA07654: One Moon Among Billions sur le site de la NASA.</a></div>
PIA07654: One Moon Among Billions
<h1>PIA07655: Bright Arc of Ice</h1><div class="PIA07655" lang="en" style="width:800px;text-align:left;margin:auto;background-color:#000;padding:10px;max-height:150px;overflow:auto;"><p>The searing arc of light seen here is Saturn's icy F ring, seen nearly edge-on. In the background, Rhea (1,528 kilometers, 949 miles across) is lit by reflected light from Saturn and the rings, with only the slightest sliver of light at its bottom being from direct sunlight.</p><p>The faint material surrounding the F ring likely lies in the planet's equatorial plane, extending radially farther out and in from the main F ring core. A smaller fraction of this material could be vertically extended, and Cassini's investigations should help to clarify this.</p><p>The image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on Oct. 30, 2005, at a distance of approximately 689,000 kilometers (428,000 miles) from Saturn. The image scale is approximately 4 kilometers (2 miles) per pixel.</p><p>The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras were designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The imaging operations center is based at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colo.</p></p>For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit <a href="http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov">http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov</a>. The Cassini imaging team homepage is at <a href="http://ciclops.org">http://ciclops.org</a>.</p><br /><br /><a href="http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA07655" onclick="window.open(this.href); return false;" title="Voir l'image PIA07655: Bright Arc of Ice sur le site de la NASA">Voir l'image PIA07655: Bright Arc of Ice sur le site de la NASA.</a></div>
PIA07655: Bright Arc of Ice
<h1>PIA07657: Small Worlds of Saturn</h1><div class="PIA07657" lang="en" style="width:611px;text-align:left;margin:auto;background-color:#000;padding:10px;max-height:150px;overflow:auto;"><p>Gazing across the ringplane, the Cassini spacecraft spots a Saturn-lit Mimas and the tiny Trojan moon Helene. Only the bright crescent on Mimas' eastern limb is lit by the Sun; the moon's night side is illuminated by Saturnshine, or "greylight" as it is called by imaging scientists.</p><p>Helene (32 kilometers, or 20 miles across) shares the orbit of Dione (not pictured here) and is visible as a speck to the left of Mimas. This view shows the Saturn-facing side of Mimas (397 kilometers, or 247 miles across).</p><p>The image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on Nov. 2, 2005, at a distance of approximately 2 million kilometers (1.2 million miles) from Mimas and at a Sun-Mimas-spacecraft, or phase, angle of 121 degrees. Helene was about 2.2 million kilometers (1.4 million miles) distant. The image scale is 12 kilometers (7 miles) per pixel on Mimas.</p><p>The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras were designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The imaging operations center is based at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colo.</p></p>For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit <a href="http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov">http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov</a>. The Cassini imaging team homepage is at <a href="http://ciclops.org">http://ciclops.org</a>.</p><br /><br /><a href="http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA07657" onclick="window.open(this.href); return false;" title="Voir l'image PIA07657: Small Worlds of Saturn sur le site de la NASA">Voir l'image PIA07657: Small Worlds of Saturn sur le site de la NASA.</a></div>
PIA07657: Small Worlds of Saturn
<h1>PIA07658: Slicing Through Dione</h1><div class="PIA07658" lang="en" style="width:683px;text-align:left;margin:auto;background-color:#000;padding:10px;max-height:150px;overflow:auto;"><p>Dione is partly occulted by Saturn's rings in this nearly edge-on view, taken from less than a tenth of a degree above the ringplane. The side of the rings nearer to the Cassini spacecraft was masked by Saturn's shadow at the time and appears dark.</p><p>Bright, wispy fractures on Dione's trailing hemisphere curl around the horizon. Sunlit terrain seen on Dione (1,126 kilometers, 700 miles across) is on the moon's Saturn-facing hemisphere. North is up.</p><p>The image was taken in infrared light (centered at 752 nanometers) with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on Nov. 3, 2005 at a distance of approximately 2.5 million kilometers (1.5 million miles) from Dione and at a Sun-Dione-spacecraft, or phase, angle of 109 degrees. Resolution in the original image was 15 kilometers (9 miles) per pixel.</p><p>The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras were designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The imaging operations center is based at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colo.</p></p>For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit <a href="http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov">http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov</a>. The Cassini imaging team homepage is at <a href="http://ciclops.org">http://ciclops.org</a>.</p><br /><br /><a href="http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA07658" onclick="window.open(this.href); return false;" title="Voir l'image PIA07658: Slicing Through Dione sur le site de la NASA">Voir l'image PIA07658: Slicing Through Dione sur le site de la NASA.</a></div>
PIA07658: Slicing Through Dione
<h1>PIA07659: Children of Saturn</h1><div class="PIA07659" lang="en" style="width:516px;text-align:left;margin:auto;background-color:#000;padding:10px;max-height:150px;overflow:auto;"><p>With the icy rings between them, Dione and Tethys each show off the prominent features for which they are known. Dione, beyond the rings, displays wispy fractures that adorn its trailing side. Tethys, on the side of the rings closest to Cassini, shows its large impact basin Odysseus.</p><p>At right, the night side of Saturn can be seen occulting the far side of the rings. The view shows the Saturn-facing side of Dione (1,126 kilometers, or 700 miles across) and the anti-Saturn side of Tethys (1,071 kilometers, or 665 miles across).</p><p>The image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on Nov. 8, 2005, at a distance of approximately 3.5 million kilometers (2.2 million miles) from Dione and 2.8 million kilometers (1.8 million miles) from Tethys. The image scale is 21 kilometers (13 miles) per pixel on Dione and 17 kilometers (11 miles) per pixel on Tethys.</p><p>The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras were designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The imaging operations center is based at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colo.</p></p>For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit <a href="http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov">http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov</a>. The Cassini imaging team homepage is at <a href="http://ciclops.org">http://ciclops.org</a>.</p><br /><br /><a href="http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA07659" onclick="window.open(this.href); return false;" title="Voir l'image PIA07659: Children of Saturn sur le site de la NASA">Voir l'image PIA07659: Children of Saturn sur le site de la NASA.</a></div>
PIA07659: Children of Saturn
<h1>PIA07661: Choosing Sides</h1><div class="PIA07661" lang="en" style="width:800px;text-align:left;margin:auto;background-color:#000;padding:10px;max-height:150px;overflow:auto;"><p>Cassini has Mimas (397 kilometers, or 247 miles across, at bottom) and Pandora (84 kilometers, or 52 miles across, at center left) on its side as it gazes across the ringplane at distant Tethys (1,071 kilometers, or 665 miles across, at top). The two smaller moons were on the side of the rings closer to Cassini when this image was taken. Little structure is visible on the moons, aside from a stippling of craters.</p><p>Two dark notches in the rings at right are the Encke and Keeler gaps. The thin, bright arc of the F ring extends toward far right.</p><p>The image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on November 17, 2005, at a distance of approximately 3.1 million kilometers (2 million miles) from Saturn. The image scale is 20 kilometers (12 miles) per pixel on Tethys and 18 kilometers (11 miles) per pixel Mimas.</p><p>The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras were designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The imaging operations center is based at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colo.</p><p>For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit <a href="http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov">http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov</a>. The Cassini imaging team homepage is at <a href="http://ciclops.org">http://ciclops.org</a>.</p><br /><br /><a href="http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA07661" onclick="window.open(this.href); return false;" title="Voir l'image PIA07661: Choosing Sides sur le site de la NASA">Voir l'image PIA07661: Choosing Sides sur le site de la NASA.</a></div>
PIA07661: Choosing Sides
<h1>PIA07665: Distant Shepherd</h1><div class="PIA07665" lang="en" style="width:800px;text-align:left;margin:auto;background-color:#000;padding:10px;max-height:150px;overflow:auto;"><p>Gazing across the plains of Saturn's icy rings, Cassini catches the F ring shepherd moon Pandora hovering in the distance.</p><p>See <a href="/catalog/PIA07632">PIA07632</a> for an up-close color view of Pandora (84 kilometers, or 52 miles across).</p><p>The image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on Dec. 1, 2005, at a distance of approximately 2.2 million kilometers (1.4 million miles) from Pandora and at a Sun-Pandora-spacecraft, or phase, angle of 116 degrees. Resolution in the original image was 13 kilometers (8 miles) per pixel on Pandora. The image has been contrast-enhanced and magnified by a factor of two to aid visibility.</p><p>The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras were designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The imaging operations center is based at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colo.</p><p>For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit <a href="http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov">http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov</a>. The Cassini imaging team homepage is at <a href="http://ciclops.org">http://ciclops.org</a>.</p><br /><br /><a href="http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA07665" onclick="window.open(this.href); return false;" title="Voir l'image PIA07665: Distant Shepherd sur le site de la NASA">Voir l'image PIA07665: Distant Shepherd sur le site de la NASA.</a></div>
PIA07665: Distant Shepherd
<h1>PIA07667: Adrift at Saturn</h1><div class="PIA07667" lang="en" style="width:800px;text-align:left;margin:auto;background-color:#000;padding:10px;max-height:150px;overflow:auto;"><p>Tethys floats before the massive, golden-hued globe of Saturn in this natural color view. The thin, dark line of the rings curves around the horizon at top.</p></p>Visible on Tethys (1,071 kilometers, or 665 miles across) are the craters Odysseus (top) and Melanthius (bottom). The view looks toward the anti-Saturn side of Tethys.</p></p>Images taken using red, green and blue spectral filters were combined to create this color view. Tethys is apparently darker than Saturn at these wavelengths. The edge of the planet appears fuzzy, which may indicate that we are seeing haze layers that are separated from the main cloud deck. </p></p>The images were acquired by the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on Dec. 3, 2005, at a distance of approximately 2.5 million kilometers (1.6 million miles) from Saturn. The image scale is 15 kilometers (9 miles) per pixel on Saturn and 13 kilometers (8 miles) per pixel on Tethys.</p></p>The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras were designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The imaging operations center is based at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colo.</p><p>For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit <a href="http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov">http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov</a>. The Cassini imaging team homepage is at <a href="http://ciclops.org">http://ciclops.org</a>.</p><br /><br /><a href="http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA07667" onclick="window.open(this.href); return false;" title="Voir l'image PIA07667: Adrift at Saturn sur le site de la NASA">Voir l'image PIA07667: Adrift at Saturn sur le site de la NASA.</a></div>
PIA07667: Adrift at Saturn
<h1>PIA07668: Light Seconds from Dione</h1><div class="PIA07668" lang="en" style="width:800px;text-align:left;margin:auto;background-color:#000;padding:10px;max-height:150px;overflow:auto;"><p>After journeying a bit more than an hour across the Solar System, bright sunlight reflects off the gleaming icy cliffs in the wispy terrain of Dione and is captured by the Cassini spacecraft's cameras several seconds later.</p><p>Saturn's ringplane is here tilted slightly toward the Cassini spacecraft and is bisected by the planet's dark shadow stretching across the rings.</p><p>This view looks toward the Saturn-facing hemisphere on Dione (1,126 kilometers, or 700 miles across).</p><p>The image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on Dec. 3, 2005, at a distance of approximately 2.8 million kilometers (1.7 million miles) from Dione and at a Sun-Dione-spacecraft, or phase, angle of 104 degrees. Resolution in the original image was 17 kilometers (11 miles) per pixel on Dione. The image has been magnified by a factor of two and contrast-enhanced to aid visibility.</p><p>The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras were designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The imaging operations center is based at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colo.</p><p>For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit <a href="http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov">http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov</a>. The Cassini imaging team homepage is at <a href="http://ciclops.org">http://ciclops.org</a>.</p><br /><br /><a href="http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA07668" onclick="window.open(this.href); return false;" title="Voir l'image PIA07668: Light Seconds from Dione sur le site de la NASA">Voir l'image PIA07668: Light Seconds from Dione sur le site de la NASA.</a></div>
PIA07668: Light Seconds from Dione
<h1>PIA07674: Hoping for a Hex</h1><div class="PIA07674" lang="en" style="width:510px;text-align:left;margin:auto;background-color:#000;padding:10px;max-height:150px;overflow:auto;"><p>As northern winter ends on Saturn and the Cassini spacecraft's view of the north pole improves, the swirls and eddies visible until now only in the south are gradually coming into view in the northern hemisphere. </p><p>Scientists will be looking for the north polar hexagon that was seen by Voyager. The hexagon was a jet stream, deflected by a storm into a six-lobed pattern, that circled the planet at 76 degrees north latitude. This picture shows extensive storm activity and gives scientists hope that the hexagon is still there.</p><p>The shadows of the rings of Saturn cut across the lower part of the image.</p><p>The image was taken in polarized infrared light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on Dec. 8, 2005, at a distance of approximately 3.2 million kilometers (2 million miles) from Saturn. The image scale is 37 kilometers (23 miles) per pixel.</p><p>The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras were designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The imaging operations center is based at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colo.</p><p>For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit <a href="http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov">http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov</a>. The Cassini imaging team homepage is at <a href="http://ciclops.org">http://ciclops.org</a>.</p><br /><br /><a href="http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA07674" onclick="window.open(this.href); return false;" title="Voir l'image PIA07674: Hoping for a Hex sur le site de la NASA">Voir l'image PIA07674: Hoping for a Hex sur le site de la NASA.</a></div>
PIA07674: Hoping for a Hex
<h1>PIA07675: A Storm Escapes the Shadows</h1><div class="PIA07675" lang="en" style="width:510px;text-align:left;margin:auto;background-color:#000;padding:10px;max-height:150px;overflow:auto;"><p>A great storm swims in the cloud lanes of Saturn's high northern latitudes. Dark bands across the bottom of this view are shadows cast by the partly opaque rings. Cloud features are visible within the shadow of the A ring, below center.</p><p>The image was taken in polarized infrared light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on Dec. 8, 2005, at a distance of approximately 3.2 million kilometers (2 million miles) from Saturn. The image scale is 37 kilometers (23 miles) per pixel.</p><p>The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras were designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The imaging operations center is based at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colo.</p><p>For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit <a href="http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov">http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov</a>. The Cassini imaging team homepage is at <a href="http://ciclops.org">http://ciclops.org</a>.</p><br /><br /><a href="http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA07675" onclick="window.open(this.href); return false;" title="Voir l'image PIA07675: A Storm Escapes the Shadows sur le site de la NASA">Voir l'image PIA07675: A Storm Escapes the Shadows sur le site de la NASA.</a></div>
PIA07675: A Storm Escapes the Shadows
<h1>PIA07676: Slightly Sideways Saturn</h1><div class="PIA07676" lang="en" style="width:800px;text-align:left;margin:auto;background-color:#000;padding:10px;max-height:150px;overflow:auto;"><p>As the ringed giant tugged on the Cassini spacecraft, urging it to make yet another orbit, the intrepid spacecraft took in this all-encompassing panorama. This view was acquired near apoapse -- the farthest point from Saturn in the Cassini spacecraft's elliptical orbit. Even from this distant vantage point, the planet and its rings were still too large to fit into a single frame; this view is a mosaic of two images.</p><p>The rings are the source of the dark, curving shadows on the northern hemisphere. Mimas (397 kilometers, or 247 miles across) is visible as a speck of light just above the rings at left.</p><p>The image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft wide-angle camera on Dec. 12, 2005, at a distance of approximately 3.2 million kilometers (2 million miles) from Saturn and at a Sun-Saturn-spacecraft, or phase, angle of 87 degrees. The image scale is 193 kilometers (120 miles) per pixel.</p><p>The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras were designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The imaging operations center is based at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colo.</p><p>For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit <a href="http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov">http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov</a>. The Cassini imaging team homepage is at <a href="http://ciclops.org">http://ciclops.org</a>.</p><br /><br /><a href="http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA07676" onclick="window.open(this.href); return false;" title="Voir l'image PIA07676: Slightly Sideways Saturn sur le site de la NASA">Voir l'image PIA07676: Slightly Sideways Saturn sur le site de la NASA.</a></div>
PIA07676: Slightly Sideways Saturn
<h1>PIA07678: Gleaming Rings</h1><div class="PIA07678" lang="en" style="width:800px;text-align:left;margin:auto;background-color:#000;padding:10px;max-height:150px;overflow:auto;"><p>Like a rope of brilliant neon, Saturn's rings outshine everything else in this night side view, while the sunlit southern face of the rings reflects a dim glow onto the atmosphere below. When viewed nearly edge-on, the rings often appear very bright.</p><p>Epimetheus (116 kilometers, or 72 miles across) and Janus (181 kilometers, or 113 miles across) are mere specks to the left of the ring edge, Epimetheus being the outermost of the pair.</p><p>The image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft wide-angle camera on Dec. 17, 2005, at a distance of approximately 2.7 million kilometers (1.7 million miles) from Saturn and at a Sun-Saturn-spacecraft, or phase, angle of 75 degrees. The image scale is 164 kilometers (102 miles) per pixel.</p><p>The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras were designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The imaging operations center is based at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colo.</p><p>For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit <a href="http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov">http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov</a>. The Cassini imaging team homepage is at <a href="http://ciclops.org">http://ciclops.org</a>.</p><br /><br /><a href="http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA07678" onclick="window.open(this.href); return false;" title="Voir l'image PIA07678: Gleaming Rings sur le site de la NASA">Voir l'image PIA07678: Gleaming Rings sur le site de la NASA.</a></div>
PIA07678: Gleaming Rings
<h1>PIA07679: Moons in Perspective</h1><div class="PIA07679" lang="en" style="width:800px;text-align:left;margin:auto;background-color:#000;padding:10px;max-height:150px;overflow:auto;"><p>Two of Saturn's battered, icy companions hover here, above the ringplane.</p><p>To get a sense of the three-dimensional nature of the scene, note that the wide band of visible rings is in between the two moons in this view from the Cassini spacecraft. Mimas (397 kilometers, or 247 miles across, at left) is outside the far side of the rings. Dione (1,126 kilometers, or 700 miles across) is outside the rings and closest to Cassini.</p><p>The view is from just beneath the ringplane.</p><p>The image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on Dec. 18, 2005, at a distance of approximately 2.2 million kilometers (1.4 million miles) from Dione and 2.7 million kilometers (1.7 million miles) from Mimas. The image scale is 13 kilometers (8 miles) per pixel on Dione and 16 kilometers (10 miles) per pixel on Mimas.</p><p>The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras were designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The imaging operations center is based at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colo.</p><p>For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit <a href="http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov">http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov</a>. The Cassini imaging team homepage is at <a href="http://ciclops.org">http://ciclops.org</a>.</p><br /><br /><a href="http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA07679" onclick="window.open(this.href); return false;" title="Voir l'image PIA07679: Moons in Perspective sur le site de la NASA">Voir l'image PIA07679: Moons in Perspective sur le site de la NASA.</a></div>
PIA07679: Moons in Perspective
<h1>PIA07695: Rings Against a Dark Planet</h1><div class="PIA07695" lang="en" style="width:800px;text-align:left;margin:auto;background-color:#000;padding:10px;max-height:150px;overflow:auto;"><p>The Cassini spacecraft looked toward the darkened night side of Saturn to capture the eerie glow of the rings, which, not being blocked by the planet's bulk, remained brilliant in full sunlight.</p><p>The image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft wide-angle camera on Dec. 24, 2005, at a distance of approximately 286,000 kilometers (178,000 miles) from Saturn. The image scale is 13 kilometers (8 miles) per pixel.</p><p>The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras were designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The imaging operations center is based at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colo.</p><p>For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit <a href="http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov">http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov</a>. The Cassini imaging team homepage is at <a href="http://ciclops.org">http://ciclops.org</a>.</p><br /><br /><a href="http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA07695" onclick="window.open(this.href); return false;" title="Voir l'image PIA07695: Rings Against a Dark Planet sur le site de la NASA">Voir l'image PIA07695: Rings Against a Dark Planet sur le site de la NASA.</a></div>
PIA07695: Rings Against a Dark Planet
<h1>PIA07704: Clinging to the Rings</h1><div class="PIA07704" lang="en" style="width:780px;text-align:left;margin:auto;background-color:#000;padding:10px;max-height:150px;overflow:auto;"><p>This fortunate view sights along Saturn's ringplane to capture three moons aligned in a row: Dione (1,126 kilometers, or 700 miles across) at left, Prometheus (102 kilometers, or 63 miles across) at center and Epimetheus (116 kilometers, or 72 miles across) at right.</p><p>The image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on Jan. 2, 2006, at a distance of approximately 2.8 million kilometers (1.7 million miles) from Saturn. The image scale is 19 kilometers (12 miles) per pixel on Dione, and about 17 kilometers (11 miles) per pixel on Prometheus and Epimetheus.</p><p>The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras were designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The imaging operations center is based at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colo.</p><p>For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit <a href="http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov">http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/home/index.cfm</a>. The Cassini imaging team homepage is at <a href="http://ciclops.org">http://ciclops.org</a>.</p><br /><br /><a href="http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA07704" onclick="window.open(this.href); return false;" title="Voir l'image PIA07704: Clinging to the Rings sur le site de la NASA">Voir l'image PIA07704: Clinging to the Rings sur le site de la NASA.</a></div>
PIA07704: Clinging to the Rings
<h1>PIA07712: Shaping the Drapes</h1><div class="PIA07712" lang="en" style="width:800px;text-align:left;margin:auto;background-color:#000;padding:10px;max-height:150px;overflow:auto;"><p>This movie sequence from Cassini shows dark drapes in the inner strands of Saturn's F ring caused by the gravitational influence of the shepherd moon Prometheus (102 kilometers, or 63 miles across).</p><p>Prometheus appears first in the sequence, interior to the F ring, and Pandora (84 kilometers, or 52 miles across) follows along outside of the ring. Radial structure in the bright core of the ring is visible throughout the movie.</p><p>Prometheus orbits closer to Saturn, and thus faster, than the icy particles that make up the F ring. The moon passes closest to the ring at "apoapse," when it is farthest from Saturn. It is during these apoapse passages that Prometheus has its greatest influence on the fine ring material. With time, the ring material previously affected falls behind so that on the next apoapse passage of Prometheus, a new gore in the inner ring material is made. The material closer to Prometheus orbits the planet faster than the material closer to the bright F ring core. The gores, together with the sheared-out material, create the dark, diagonal drapes.</p><p>Several background stars are seen moving across the field during the movie.</p><p>The images in this sequence were acquired on April 13, 2005, at a distance of approximately 1.2 million kilometers (700,000 miles) from Saturn. The images were obtained in visible light using the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera.</p><p>The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter was designed, developed and assembled at JPL. </p><p>For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit <a href="http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov">http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov</a>. For additional images visit the Cassini imaging team homepage <a href="http://ciclops.org">http://ciclops.org</a>.</p><br /><br /><a href="http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA07712" onclick="window.open(this.href); return false;" title="Voir l'image PIA07712: Shaping the Drapes sur le site de la NASA">Voir l'image PIA07712: Shaping the Drapes sur le site de la NASA.</a></div>
PIA07712: Shaping the Drapes
<h1>PIA07713: Unidentified F Ring Objects</h1><div class="PIA07713" lang="en" style="width:693px;text-align:left;margin:auto;background-color:#000;padding:10px;max-height:150px;overflow:auto;"><p>A solitary clump-like feature in Saturn's F ring orbits past in this movie sequence made from Cassini images. This feature is seen magnified at the bottom right in <a href="/catalog/PIA07716">PIA07716</a>.</p><p>Scientists are trying to determine whether these features are solid moonlets that help control the ring or just loose clumps of particles within the ring.</p><p>The images in this sequence were acquired in visible light using the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on April 13, 2005, at a distance of approximately 1.2 million kilometers (700,000 miles) from Saturn. Image scale is about 7 kilometers (4 miles) per pixel.</p><p>The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter was designed, developed and assembled at JPL. </p><p>For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit <a href="http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov">http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov</a>. For additional images visit the Cassini imaging team homepage <a href="http://ciclops.org">http://ciclops.org</a>.</p><br /><br /><a href="http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA07713" onclick="window.open(this.href); return false;" title="Voir l'image PIA07713: Unidentified F Ring Objects sur le site de la NASA">Voir l'image PIA07713: Unidentified F Ring Objects sur le site de la NASA.</a></div>
PIA07713: Unidentified F Ring Objects
<h1>PIA07714: D Ring Revelations</h1><div class="PIA07714" lang="en" style="width:800px;text-align:left;margin:auto;background-color:#000;padding:10px;max-height:150px;overflow:auto;"><p>This montage of images from the NASA Cassini and Voyager missions shows that structural evolution has occurred in Saturn's D ring (the innermost ring) during the quarter century separating the two missions. The inset image reveals structure with an unprecedented level of fine detail.</p><p>The lower panel was taken in 1980 by Voyager 1 from a distance of about 250,000 kilometers (155,000 miles). The bright material at the lower left is the inner edge of the C-ring. Interior to this feature, we see three discrete ringlets. From right to left, these are called D73, D72 and D68, respectively.</p><p>The upper panel, obtained by Cassini from a distance of 272,000 kilometers (169,000 miles) on May 3, 2005, shows the same region from a similar viewing geometry. The green line marks the edge of the C-ring, which was not overexposed like the Voyager image. Image scale in this Cassini view is about 13 kilometers (8 miles).</p><p>There have been some very significant changes in the appearance of the D ring since observed by Voyager. The most dramatic changes involve D72, which was the brightest feature in the D-ring 25 years ago. Since then, D72 has decreased in brightness by more than an order of magnitude relative to the other ringlets. It also has moved inward about 200 kilometers (125 miles) relative to the other features in the D ring.</p><p>Cassini has also observed the D-ring at much higher resolution than was possible for Voyager, revealing surprising fine-scale structures. The inset narrow-angle camera image (upper right) was taken on May 21, 2005, in a very different geometry from the larger scale Cassini panel to its left. This close-up shows the region between D73 and the C-ring at 2 kilometer (1 mile) per pixel resolution. This region contains a periodic wave-like structure with a wavelength of 30 kilometers (19 miles). The faint vertical bands in the image are instrumental artifacts.</p><p>As for the significance of these findings, the time-variability of the rings over only decades can provide information about how the rings are maintained and confined, and how long they last.</p><p>The fine structure in the D-ring (visible in the inset) could be related to perturbations from the planet or its magnetic field. The Cassini results provide information about the dynamics of ring particles in a new regime -- one very close to the planet and sparsely populated by icy particles the size of dust. </p><p>The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter was designed, developed and assembled at JPL. </p><p>For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit <a href="http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov">http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov</a>. For additional images visit the Cassini imaging team homepage <a href="http://ciclops.org">http://ciclops.org</a>.</p><br /><br /><a href="http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA07714" onclick="window.open(this.href); return false;" title="Voir l'image PIA07714: D Ring Revelations sur le site de la NASA">Voir l'image PIA07714: D Ring Revelations sur le site de la NASA.</a></div>
PIA07714: D Ring Revelations
<h1>PIA07715: D Ring Revelations (Inset image)</h1><div class="PIA07715" lang="en" style="width:746px;text-align:left;margin:auto;background-color:#000;padding:10px;max-height:150px;overflow:auto;"><p>This view is part of a montage of images from the NASA Cassini and Voyager missions shown in <a href="/catalog/PIA07714">PIA07714</a>. The inset image from the montage is presented here by itself and in its original orientation.</p><p>Cassini has observed the D-ring at much higher resolution than was possible for Voyager, revealing surprising fine-scale structures. This narrow-angle camera image was taken on May 21, 2005, and shows the region between the D ring feature named D73 and the inner edge of the C-ring at 2 kilometer (1 mile) per pixel resolution. This region contains a periodic wave-like structure with a wavelength of 30 kilometers (19 miles). The faint horizontal bands in the image are instrumental artifacts.</p><p>The fine structure in the D-ring (visible here) could be related to perturbations from the planet or its magnetic field. The Cassini results provide information about the dynamics of ring particles in a new regime -- one very close to the planet and sparsely populated by icy particles the size of dust.</p><p>The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter was designed, developed and assembled at JPL. </p><p>For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit <a href="http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov">http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov</a>. For additional images visit the Cassini imaging team homepage <a href="http://ciclops.org">http://ciclops.org</a>.</p><br /><br /><a href="http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA07715" onclick="window.open(this.href); return false;" title="Voir l'image PIA07715: D Ring Revelations (Inset image) sur le site de la NASA">Voir l'image PIA07715: D Ring Revelations (Inset image) sur le site de la NASA.</a></div>
PIA07715: D Ring Revelations (Inset image)
<h1>PIA07716: The Clump/Moon Mystery</h1><div class="PIA07716" lang="en" style="width:800px;text-align:left;margin:auto;background-color:#000;padding:10px;max-height:150px;overflow:auto;"><p>Scientists have long suspected that small moons hiding among Saturn's ring strands might be producing some of the unusual structure observed in the F ring. While the shepherd moon Prometheus is the main culprit behind the strange behavior of Saturn's F ring, it cannot explain all observed features. The current dilemma facing scientists is that Cassini is detecting extended objects like those pictured here -- that may be either solid moons or just loose clumps of particles within the ring.</p><p>This montage of four enhanced Cassini narrow-angle camera images shows bright clump-like features at different locations within the F ring.</p><p>Two objects in particular, provisionally named S/2004 S3 and S/2004 S6, have been repeatedly observed by Cassini over the past 13.5 months and 8.5 months, respectively. The orbits for these two objects have not yet been precisely determined, in part because perturbations from other nearby moons make the orbits of objects in this region complicated. Thus, scientists cannot be completely confident at the present time if they in fact have observed new sightings of S3 and S6, or additional transient clumps.</p><p>The upper two images show features that may be S6. From previous observations, S6 appears to have an orbit that crosses that of the main F ring. This unexpected behavior currently is a subject of great interest to ring scientists.</p><p>The upper left image was taken on June 21, 2005, and shows an object in the outer ringlets of the F ring. The radial (or lengthwise) extent of the feature is approximately 2,000 kilometers (1,200 miles). The radial resolution on the ring is about 13 kilometers (8 miles) per pixel.</p><p>The image at the upper right was taken on June 29, 2005, and shows a bright feature within the F ring's inner ringlets. The radial extent of the feature seen here is about 2,000 kilometers (1,200 miles); the radial resolution is 36 kilometers (22 miles).</p><p>The image at the lower left was taken on August 2, 2005, and shows a feature that may be S3. S3 has been found to have an orbital path that is tightly aligned with that of the main F ring. The radial resolution in the image is 3.5 kilometers (2.2 miles) per pixel.</p><p>The lower right image was taken on April 13, 2005, and has a radial resolution of 7 kilometers (4 miles) per pixel. This object does not appear to be either S3 or S6.</p><p>Structures like knots and clumps within the F ring often are transient, appearing and then disappearing within months. Repeated observation of the objects seen in this region hopefully will give scientists firm evidence about whether these features are actual moons that disturb the material around them or perhaps the short-lived products of interactions between the F ring and larger moons such as Prometheus. </p><p>The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter was designed, developed and assembled at JPL. </p><p>For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit <a href="http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov">http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov</a>. For additional images visit the Cassini imaging team homepage <a href="http://ciclops.org">http://ciclops.org</a>.</p><br /><br /><a href="http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA07716" onclick="window.open(this.href); return false;" title="Voir l'image PIA07716: The Clump/Moon Mystery sur le site de la NASA">Voir l'image PIA07716: The Clump/Moon Mystery sur le site de la NASA.</a></div>
PIA07716: The Clump/Moon Mystery
<h1>PIA07717: The F Ring's Spiral Arm</h1><div class="PIA07717" lang="en" style="width:800px;text-align:left;margin:auto;background-color:#000;padding:10px;max-height:150px;overflow:auto;"><p>This map of Saturn's F ring illustrates how the ghostly strands flanking the core of this contorted ring, when examined in detail, actually form a spiral structure wound like a spring around the planet.</p><p>Two identical maps of the F ring have been joined, side-by-side, to show the nature of the spiral more clearly. The F ring has been mapped as if it were a circular feature, so that its eccentricity is not apparent here.</p><p>The spiral strand's path across the image begins about 350 kilometers (217 miles) inward of the F ring core at about 200 degrees longitude (bottom axis) on the right map, and moves closer to the ring core toward the left, wrapping over onto the map on the left. The strand appears to cross the ring core around 100 degrees longitude, after which the distance between the strand and the ring core increases to the left and can be followed, moving even farther outward, wrapping around to the rightmost boundary of the right-hand map and continuing to the left.</p><p>Other spiraling structures seen in the main rings of Saturn, the density and bending waves, are initiated by the gravitational influence of an orbiting moon. Density and bending waves move across the rings because of the way that relatively massive ring particles exert a gravitational influence on each other and can all move together.</p><p>In contrast, the F ring spiral structure contains very little mass and appears to originate from material somehow episodically ejected from the core of the F ring and then sheared out due to the different orbital speeds followed by the constituent particles.</p><p>Scientists have speculated that the spiral may be a consequence of moons crossing the F ring and spreading its particles around. </p><p>The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter was designed, developed and assembled at JPL. </p><p>For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit <a href="http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov">http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov</a>. For additional images visit the Cassini imaging team homepage <a href="http://ciclops.org">http://ciclops.org</a>.</p><br /><br /><a href="http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA07717" onclick="window.open(this.href); return false;" title="Voir l'image PIA07717: The F Ring's Spiral Arm sur le site de la NASA">Voir l'image PIA07717: The F Ring's Spiral Arm sur le site de la NASA.</a></div>
PIA07717: The F Ring's Spiral Arm
<h1>PIA07718: Arc in the Tenuous G Ring</h1><div class="PIA07718" lang="en" style="width:800px;text-align:left;margin:auto;background-color:#000;padding:10px;max-height:150px;overflow:auto;"><p>This sequence of images shows a faint arc of material in Saturn's G ring, a tenuous ring outside the main ring system. These images were each taken about 45 minutes apart. During this time, the arc (slightly brighter than the ring itself) moves around the outer edge of the ring.</p><p>The arc is visible on the lower part of the ring in the first image, just beneath the ansa (or outer edge). In the second image the arc is easily seen on the outer edge, and then faintly just above the outer edge in the third image.</p><p>What makes this part of the G ring brighter than other parts is not clear. However, the existence of this arc might hold clues about how this ring was formed and where the material which makes up this ring comes from.</p><p>These three images were taken in polarized near-infrared light using the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on May 24, 2005, at a distance of approximately 1.7 million kilometers (1.1 million miles) from Saturn. Resolution in the original images was about 97 kilometers (60 miles) per pixel. The images have been contrast-enhanced to aid visibility. </p><p>The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter was designed, developed and assembled at JPL. </p><p>For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit <a href="http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov">http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov</a>. For additional images visit the Cassini imaging team homepage <a href="http://ciclops.org">http://ciclops.org</a>.</p><br /><br /><a href="http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA07718" onclick="window.open(this.href); return false;" title="Voir l'image PIA07718: Arc in the Tenuous G Ring sur le site de la NASA">Voir l'image PIA07718: Arc in the Tenuous G Ring sur le site de la NASA.</a></div>
PIA07718: Arc in the Tenuous G Ring