Explanation:
Soft hues, partially lit orbs, a thin trace of the ring, and slight shadows highlight this understated view of the majestic surroundings of the giant planet Saturn.
Looking nearly back toward the Sun, the
robot Cassini
spacecraft now orbiting Saturn captured
crescent phases of
Saturn and its
moon Rhea in color a few years ago.
As striking as the
above image is, it is but a single frame from a recently released
60-frame silent movie where Rhea can be seen gliding in front of its parent world.
Since Cassini was nearly in the plane of
Saturn's rings, the normally impressive rings are visible here only as a
thin line across the image center.
Although Cassini has now concluded its
primary mission,
its past successes and opportunistic location have prompted
NASA to start a two-year
Equinox Mission, further exploring not only Saturn's enigmatic moons
Titan and
Enceladus, but Saturn herself as her grand
rings tilt right at the Sun in August 2009.
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