Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute

 

NASA recently published an outstanding image, obtained by the Saturn-bound Cassini spacecraft. The picture shows a distant star, shining through Saturn's spectacular rings.

 

Saturn's A ring is seen at upper left, with its Keeler Gap. At lower right, the wispy F ring features trails of bright clumps of material.

 

Scientists regard the phenomenon of stellar occultation as a natural scientific device to probe the structure of planetary atmospheres and rings. As the rings occult a star, the fluctuations in the star's brightness indicate the distribution of the particles in the rings.

 

Images of a stellar occultation by Saturn's rings allow scientists to study the structure, and density of the rings, using data obtained by other instruments onboard Cassini.

 

Cassini was about 56° from the ringplane, looking down on the illuminated side of the rings.

 

The image was taken in visible light with Cassini's narrow-angle camera on 30 December 2006, at a distance of approximately 633,440 km from Saturn. Image scale is 4 km per pixel.

 

Further reading

Rising Star

http://www.bibalex.org/Eclipse2006/News_Details.aspx?id=110

Looking down on Saturn

http://www.bibalex.org/Eclipse2006/News_Details.aspx?id=169

Enceladus Occults Rhea

http://www.bibalex.org/Eclipse2006/News_Details.aspx?id=181

 

 

Aymen Mohamed Ibrahem

Senior Astronomy Specialist