30 June 2007
Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute
NASA recently published an exquisite image of Saturn, acquired by the Saturn-bound Cassini spacecraft. The image, taken in infrared light, reveals Saturn's cloud layers that lie beneath the planet's atmospheric hazes.
The spacecraft was looking down on the northern hemisphere of the Saturn, from about 24° above the dark side of the magnificent rings. The rings' shadow extends north of Saturn's characteristic bright equatorial cloud band.
The image was obtained on 24 May 2007, applying Cassini's wide-angle camera. The spacecraft was approximately 1.5 million km from Saturn. Image scale is 89 km per pixel.
Further Reading
Cassini-Huygens Mission
http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/home/index.cfm
Aymen Mohamed Ibrahem
Senior Astronomy Specialist