[cdefreese]

The spacecraft has closed to about two Earth-Sun separations from the ringed giant.

...And it is already that large in the picture?? Kinda reminds us all about how small we really are here on our little rock floating in space.

[petuniasevan]

The cameras on board do magnify the image.

Imaging Science Subsystem (ISS)

The Cassini Imaging Science System (ISS) was specifically designed for exploring the Saturn system, and includes spectral filters and imaging capabilities for a multitude of scientific objectives, including capturing lightning, investigating the three dimensional cloud structure and meteorology of the Saturn and Titan atmospheres, imaging the surfaces of its many icy satellites, determining the composition and structure of its enormous ring system, and peering through the hazy Titan atmosphere down its still unexplored surface.

The ISS consists of two framing cameras. The narrow angle camera is a reflecting telescope with a focal length of 2000 mm and a field of view of 0.35 degrees. The wide angle camera is a refractor with a focal length of 200 mm and a field of view of 3.5 degrees. Each camera is outfitted with a large number of spectral filters which, taken together, span the electromagnetic spectrum from 2000 Angstroms to 1.1 microns. At the heart of each camera is a charged coupled device (CCD) detector consisting of a 1024 square array of pixels, each 12 microns on a side. The data system allows many options for data collection, including choices for on-chip summing and data compression.