Posted on 12/22/2012 7:09:21 AM PST by SunkenCiv
Explanation: Splendors seldom seen are revealed in this glorious picture from Saturn's shadow. Imaged by Cassini on October 17, 2012 during its 174th orbit, the ringed planet's night side is viewed from a perspective 19 degrees below the ring plane at a distance of about 800,000 kilometers with the Sun almost directly behind the planet. A 60 frame mosaic, images made with infrared, red, and violet filters were combined to create an enhanced, false-color view. Strongly backlit, the rings look bright away from the planet but dark in silhouette against the gas giant. Above center, they reflect a faint, eerie light on the cloud tops while Saturn casts its own dark shadow on the rings. A similar Cassini image from 2006 also featured planet Earth as a pale blue dot in the distance. Instead, this scene includes icy moons Enceladus (closer to the rings) and Tethys below the rings on the left.
[Credit: NASA, JPL-Caltech, Space Science Institute, Cassini Imaging Team]
That's what I'm talkin' about...
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It would be cool to orbit something like that.
It would be cool to orbit our government around that.
Well if you miscalculate the orbital insertion angle they’ll burn up in the atmosphere.
OOPS
Beautiful!!
Yeah. That would be bad, wouldn’t it?
>>Beautiful!!<<
I second that.
Interesting. You wouldn’t need to buy sunglasses if you lived in the southern hemisphere of Saturn.
SunkenCiv you have outdone yourself this time! This is a truly awe-inspiring picture.
Thank you for posting.
magnificent!
I like the sound track too!
Thanks t, the credit of course lies with others, however I must say, Jupiter may be bigger, Neptune and Uranus bluer, Venus brighter, Mars more Earthlike, and Pluto more mysterious, but AFAIC, Saturn kicks the ass of all the other planets (other than Earth of course, we kind of need Earth).
You are most welcome. Keep posting the great pictures!
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