![]() With the release of Apple’s iOS 14, users can finally add widgets to their homescreen and subsequent pages, paving the way for unique ways to customize your iOS device. More information about Cassini is available at: and. The imaging team is based at the Space Science Institute, Boulder, Colo.Ī new version of the collage of photos shared by the public, with the Saturn system as backdrop, is available at. ![]() ![]() JPL designed, developed and assembled the Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras. JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. NASA plans to continue the mission through 2017, with the anticipation of many more images of Saturn, its rings and moons, as well as other scientific data. Launched in 1997, Cassini has explored the Saturn system for more than nine years. "Beyond showing us the beauty of the Ringed Planet, data like these also improve our understanding of the history of the faint rings around Saturn and the way disks around planets form - clues to how our own solar system formed around the sun." "With a long, intricate dance around the Saturn system, Cassini aims to study the Saturn system from as many angles as possible," said Linda Spilker, Cassini project scientist based at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. A good opportunity came on July 19, when Cassini was able to capture a picture of Earth and its moon, and this multi-image, backlit panorama of the Saturn system. Cassini team members looked for an opportunity when the sun would slip behind Saturn from Cassini's point of view. "The E ring in particular shows patterns that likely reflect disturbances from such diverse sources as sunlight and Enceladus’ gravity.”Ĭassini does not attempt many images of Earth because the sun is so close to our planet that an unobstructed view would damage the spacecraft's sensitive detectors. “This mosaic provides a remarkable amount of high-quality data on Saturn’s diffuse rings, revealing all sorts of intriguing structures we are currently trying to understand," said Matt Hedman, a Cassini participating scientist at the University of Idaho in Moscow. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SSI Larger Image This collage includes about 1,600 images submitted by members of the public as part of the NASA Cassini mission's "Wave at Saturn" campaign. They use computers to increase dramatically the contrast of the images and change the color balance, for example, to see evidence for material tracing out the full orbits of the tiny moons Anthe and Methone for the first time. Scientists who focus on Saturn's rings look for patterns in optical bonanzas like these. Because it is so tenuous, it is best seen with light shining from behind it, when the tiny particles are outlined with light because of the phenomenon of diffraction. The E ring shines like a halo around Saturn and the inner rings. Zooming into the image reveals the moon and the icy plume emanating from its south pole, supplying fine, powder-sized icy particles that make up the E ring. Seven Saturnian moons are visible, including Enceladus on the left side of the image. Mars also appears, as a faint red dot, above and to the left of Venus. Venus is a bright dot to Saturn’s upper left. Earth is a bright blue dot to the lower right of Saturn. NASA invited the public to celebrate by finding Saturn in their part of the sky, waving at the ringed planet and sharing pictures over the Internet.Īn annotated version of the Saturn system mosaic labels points of interest. The mosaic is part of Cassini's "Wave at Saturn" campaign, where on July 19, people for the first time had advance notice a spacecraft was taking their picture from planetary distances.
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