Posted on 03/01/2007 6:09:06 PM PST by NormsRevenge
NASA's Cassini spacecraft has captured never-before-seen views of Saturn from perspectives high above and below the planet's rings. Over the last several months, the spacecraft has climbed to higher and higher inclinations, providing its cameras with glimpses of the planet and rings that have scientists gushing.
"Finally, here are the views that we've waited years for," said Dr. Carolyn Porco, Cassini imaging team leader at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colo. "Sailing high above Saturn and seeing the rings spread out beneath us like a giant, copper medallion is like exploring an alien world we've never seen before. It just doesn't look like the same place. It's so utterly breath-taking, it almost gives you vertigo."
The images taken over last two months are being released today and include black and white and color mosaics, as well as a dramatic movie sequence showing the rings as they appeared to Cassini while it sped from south to north, rapidly crossing the ring plane. Also released is a playful view of the rings from high above, with the planet removed.
Cassini's highly inclined orbits around Saturn will be progressively lowered so that, by late June -- three years after entering orbit -- the spacecraft will once more be orbiting in the ring plane.
The new images and movie are available at: http://www.nasa.gov/cassini , http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov and http://ciclops.org .
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 Cassini-Huygens mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras were designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The imaging team is based at the Space Science Institute, Boulder, Colo.
Thanks for your Post Norm!!!!...
I gladly pay $10 for my share of the cost of this project.
You're most welcome, we need a break from the dems and parade of Rinos. ;-)
This is great stuff, NormsRevenge. I used to have software named Redshift that enabled the user to develop similar images.
Planetary PING!!!
Hey Two thirds take a bow buddy you earned it.
Awesome!
WOW!! Thanks for posting this !!!
BTTT !!
Have they spotted any potential presidential candidates there?
Awesome photos!
Whoa! I see some great colors schemes for my next living room repaint. Who says that the space program doesn't have practical applications?
I'm surprised no one has made a joke about Giuliani and Uranus.
Beautiful.....
That pic is now the background for one of my desktops.
Thank you very much for posting this.
Reminds me of the test pattern we used to see on tv in the old days, when there was nothing else on.
Please stand by...
Now now,, I'm trying to keep this a non-political thread. ;-)
;->
The rings do go all oof the way around the planet.
The blackened out portion of the rings is the shadow of
of Saturn being cast on the rings.
I guess the ";->" part of my post wasn't obvious enough...
Holy Toledo, the full resolution .JPG picture blows my socks off! Very nice.
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