29 July 2007
Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute
NASA recently published a fascinating image of Saturn, the ringed giant, acquired by the Saturn-bound Cassini spacecraft. The image shows a surge in brightness on the sunlit side of the rings. It is located directly opposite the Sun from Cassini.
This "opposition surge" travels across the rings as the spacecraft observes (see JPL's PIA08267). A detailed explanation of the opposition effect is available in JPL's PIA08247.
The image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft wide-angle camera on 12 June 2007. The view was acquired at a distance of approximately 524,374 km from Saturn. Image scale is 31 km per pixel.
Further Reading
Cassini-Huygens Mission
http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/
Aymen Mohamed Ibrahem