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Astronomy Picture of the Day - The Colors of Saturn from Cassini
NASA ^ | 23 Jun, 2024 | Image Credit: NASA, ESA, JPL, ISS, Cassini Imaging Team; Processing & License: Judy Schmidt

Posted on 06/23/2024 10:26:39 AM PDT by MtnClimber

Explanation: What creates Saturn's colors? The featured picture of Saturn only slightly exaggerates what a human would see if hovering close to the giant ringed world. The image was taken in 2005 by the robot Cassini spacecraft that orbited Saturn from 2004 to 2017. Here Saturn's majestic rings appear directly only as a curved line, appearing brown, in part from its infrared glow. The rings best show their complex structure in the dark shadows they create across the upper part of the planet. The northern hemisphere of Saturn can appear partly blue for the same reason that Earth's skies can appear blue -- molecules in the cloudless portions of both planet's atmospheres are better at scattering blue light than red. When looking deep into Saturn's clouds, however, the natural gold hue of Saturn's clouds becomes dominant. It is not known why southern Saturn does not show the same blue hue -- one hypothesis holds that clouds are higher there. It is also not known why some of Saturn's clouds are colored gold.


TOPICS: Astronomy; Astronomy Picture of the Day; Science
KEYWORDS: apod; nasa
To be added or removed from the Astronomy Picture of the Day ping list please send me a request via "Private Reply" (Mail).

For more detail go to the link and click on the image for a high definition image. You can then move the magnifying glass cursor then click to zoom in and click again to zoom out. When zoomed in you can scan by moving the side bars on the bottom and right side of the image.

1 posted on 06/23/2024 10:26:39 AM PDT by MtnClimber
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To: MtnClimber

2 posted on 06/23/2024 10:26:54 AM PDT by MtnClimber (For photos of scenery and wildlife, click on my screen name for my FR home page. More photos added.)
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To: 21stCenturion; 21twelve; 4everontheRight; abb; AFB-XYZ; AFPhys; Agatsu77; America_Right; ...
Pinging the APOD list

🪐 🌟 🌌 šŸ”


3 posted on 06/23/2024 10:27:28 AM PDT by MtnClimber (For photos of scenery and wildlife, click on my screen name for my FR home page. More photos added.)
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To: MtnClimber

Beautiful. Makes me wonder what sights are out there, we can only imagine.


4 posted on 06/23/2024 10:46:29 AM PDT by Omnivore-Dan
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To: MtnClimber

I think Saturn is the most serene-looking planet in the solar system.


5 posted on 06/23/2024 10:56:02 AM PDT by AFB-XYZ (Two options: 1) Stand up, or 2) Bend over)
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To: AFB-XYZ

Too serene. They are up to something.


6 posted on 06/23/2024 10:57:46 AM PDT by DannyTN
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To: AFB-XYZ

Serene is right. Smooth color bands and no angry red spot like Jupiter.


7 posted on 06/23/2024 11:03:54 AM PDT by Yardstick
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To: DannyTN

Good point. They might be running a good cop/bad cop routine on us with Jupiter.


8 posted on 06/23/2024 11:05:07 AM PDT by Yardstick
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To: Yardstick; DannyTN

This guy would know exactly what the Saturnians are up to, or not. He married one (at least!). Heh.

https://www.encyclopedia.com/science/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/menger-howard-1922


9 posted on 06/23/2024 1:06:14 PM PDT by AFB-XYZ (Two options: 1) Stand up, or 2) Bend over)
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To: DannyTN

I’m thinking they are some kind of transmitting dish, sending out reports on us to who knows where.


10 posted on 06/23/2024 5:12:47 PM PDT by telescope115 (I NEED MY SPACE!!! šŸ”­)
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