Cassini Captures Stunning View of Saturn

[windansea]

Four months before its scheduled arrival at Saturn, the Cassini-Huygens spacecraft sent its best color postcard back to Earth of the ringed world. The spacecraft is expected to send weekly postcards, as it gets closer to the ringed giant.

The view from Cassini shows Saturn growing larger and more defined as the spacecraft nears a July 1, 2004, arrival date. On February 9, Cassini's narrow angle camera, one of two cameras onboard the spacecraft, took a series of exposures through different filters, which were combined to form the color image released today.

"We very much want everyone to enjoy Cassini's tour of this magnificent planetary system," said Dr. Carolyn Porco, leader of the Cassini imaging science team at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colo. "And I can say right now the views out the window will be stunning."

Cassini was 69.4 million kilometers (43.2 million miles) from Saturn when the images were taken. The smallest features visible in the image are approximately 540 kilometers (336 miles) across. Finer details in the rings and atmosphere than previously seen are beginning to emerge and will grow in sharpness and clarity over the coming months. The thickness of the middle B ring of Saturn, and the comparative translucence of the outer A ring, when seen against the planet, as well as subtle color differences in the finely-banded Saturn atmosphere, are more apparent.

http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/news/press-releases-04/20040227-pr-a.cfm

[Cush]

1. Awesome

I've been doing a lot of observing lately, got an 8 inch reflector (Orion) for Christmas. Getting some great views of Saturn and Jupiter.

[pmbryant]

2. Wow

Spectacular image.

The is the first time we've had a spacecraft in the vicinity of Saturn since Voyager 2 in 1981 (I think it was 1981).

23 years.

About time!

:wow:

:-)

Peter

[Old and In the Way]

3. great post!

Amazing picture, I guess I never appreciated the density of the rings. Even captures Saturn's shadow in the rings.

[windansea]

11. yes...amazing technology

:)

[SmileyBoy]

4. Saturn is the most awesome looking planet.

I only wish that it was a solid planet. Turns out that Earth is the largest solid planet in the solar system.

[mobuto]

5. Not really

Jupiter has a solid core about 15 times bigger than the Earth. Saturn probably has one too. We could conceivably land astronauts on either. Only problem is that they'd be crushed to the size of a pea by the pressure of the atmosphere.

[windansea]

6. Uranus

Uranus contains mostly rock and water, with hydrogen and helium (and trace amounts of methane) in its dense atmosphere. Astronomers believe that Uranus formed from the same material—principally frozen water and rock—that composes most of the planet’s moons. As the planet grew, pressures and temperatures in the planet’s interior increased, heating the planet’s frozen water into a hot liquid.

Uranus probably has a relatively small rocky core (smaller in size than Earth’s core), with a radius no larger than 2,000 km (1,240 mi) and a temperature of about 6650°C (12,000°F). Uranus’s core may be small because most of the rock composing the planet remains mixed with the body of water that surrounds the core and extends upward to the planet’s atmosphere.

The vast body of liquid on Uranus accounts for most of the planet’s volume. Scientists think this ocean consists mostly of water molecules, which are mixed with silicate, magnesium, nitrogen-bearing molecules, and hydrocarbons (molecules composed of carbon and hydrogen). Uranus’s ocean is extremely hot (about 6650°C/about 12,000°F). Water at the surface of Earth evaporates, or boils, at 100°C (212°F). The ocean on Uranus remains liquid at such a high temperature, however, because the pressure deep in Uranus is about five million times stronger than the atmospheric pressure on Earth at sea level. Higher pressure holds molecules in liquids close together and prevents them from spreading out to form vapor.

[HootieMcBoob]

23. Aren't there rings around Uranus?

;-)

[windansea]

24. yes

Uranus is the seventh planet from the sun in our solar system. This huge, icy planet is covered with clouds and is encircled by a belt of 11 rings and at least 22 moons. The largest moon is called Oberon





Saturn is not the only planet with rings, as can be clearly seen in a new image of Uranus that was released recently by astronomers working with the Subaru Telescope.

The picture shows the gaseous planet, its ring system and two of its satellites: Miranda is at the top-center of the photo; Ariel is at the bottom-left. Unlike other planets, Uranus is so far away that few good pictures of it have been taken.

British astronomer William Herschel discovered Uranus in 1781. He saw an object that appeared large compared to a star during observations with a homemade 6.3-inch (16-cm) telescope. The object, which was initially thought to be a comet, turned out to be a new planet outside Saturn's orbit.

[Drifter]

42. Sorry about this ...

Yes, they are called Klingons.

A conversation about the solar system, must include Uranus and Klingons.

Again, Sorry

Cheers
Drifter

[On the Road]

38. Actually, I Happen to Know an Astronomer

who did computer modeling of the formation of Jupiter. He claimed that the models work only if the solid core is twice the size of earth or less. Of course, no one's able to observe it directly.

The amazing thing to me about Jupiter is the nature of the core. It's almost entirely composed of a single metal -- hydrogen. The gravity is so intense and the temperature is so low that hydrogen solidifies.

[windansea]

39. the most amazing thing about Saturn is

if you had a big enough ocean..it would float

[Ediacara]

44. I don't think the temperature is low

But that the pressure gradient has increased enough so that hydrogen is a solid at high temperatures. The same thing happens with the Earth, the outer core is liquid, but because of increased pressure the inner core is solid.

[Ediacara]

45. I like Neptune better

[GCP]

7. What a beautiful image

Thanks!

[windansea]

8. welcome!!

:)

[Malva Zebrina]

9. that is overwhelmingly beautiful

absolutely beautiful, silent and also powerful

[tigereye]

10. those are stunning, thank you

[windansea]

17. another hubble pic...looks like mocha cafe latte

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

[Zech Marquis]

43. that alone shows why we should keep Hubble going

speechless. Just speechless :)

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

12. Makes a great desktop on a black background! Thanks for

posting this!

[windansea]

14. here's a hubble pic of saturn

cassini will get much closer and even better pics later this year

[windansea]

15. like this close

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

19. That wil be amazing. n/t

[alfredo]

25. Thanks for the newest picture.

Here's another Saturn



I know it's a bad joke, but somebody had to do it.

Isn't there a comet in the sky right now. I know there are two coming in May, but I thought there was one near Venus a few days back.

[DrWeird]

13. A lot of people were upset when Cassini launched.

Because it's powered by a small nuclear reactor.

[stevedeshazer]

20. I remember that

I thought it was silly at the time.

[alfredo]

26. Somebody has to be looking over their shoulder just to keep

them honest. Any risk would have been very small, but it is always good to let them know they are being watched. They do work for us.

[Dudley_DUright]

29. Not quite true

It is actually a radiological thermoelectric generator (rtg) that generates electrical power from the temperature difference between space and the heat from the radioactive decay of plutonium-238. It is not a fission power source like a nuclear power plant. See the following DOE website for details.

http://www.ne.doe.gov/space/spacepwr.html

[windansea]

30. yes...and properly shielded

in the event of a launch mishap.

[tridim]

16. Unreal pic

Stunning.

[PsychoDad]

18. Wow....

Beautiful and awesome.

[windansea]

21. glad you like...n/t

[mike1963]

22. Too cool! A new pic for my screen-saver! Thanks.

:D
Edit: Desktop, not SS.
:eyes:
;-)

[Dover]

27. That doesn't look real

surreal perhaps....but not real.

[windansea]

28. it's real

wait till you see the orbital closeups...in July

The narrow angle camera onboard the Cassini spacecraft took a series of exposures of Saturn and its rings and moons on February 9, 2004, which were composited to create this stunning, color image. At the time, Cassini was 69.4 million kilometers (43.1 million miles) from Saturn, less than half the distance from Earth to the Sun. The image contrast and colors have been slightly enhanced to aid visibility. The smallest features visible in this image are approximately 540 kilometers across (336 miles).

Fine details in the rings and atmosphere are beginning to emerge, and will grow in sharpness and clarity over the coming months. The optical thickness of Saturn's B (middle) ring and the comparative translucence of the A (outer) ring, when seen against the planet, are now apparent. Subtle color differences in the finely banded Saturnian atmosphere, as well as structure within the diaphanous, inner C ring can be easily seen. Noticeably absent are the ghostly spoke-like dark markings in Saturn's B ring, first discovered by NASA’s Voyager spacecraft on approach to the planet 23 years ago.

[rman]

32. why not? how should it look?

-

[burrowowl]

31. This just illustrates

that mankind, along with bettering the life of the peoples of the world, can do, like exploring the universe and its marvels.
Instead of wasting money on super-dupper weapons that can wipe out our precious planet.

[windansea]

33. too true

hopefully we figure it out :)

[WyLoochka]

36. Yes, and all the more reason

to throw BushCo out in Nov. BushCo plans are to militarize space!! We have an agreement with other countries participating in space exploration to use the knowledge gained for strictly peaceful purposes for the benefit of all and to keep military weapons out of space.

BushCo has dumped the agreement and, typical of their boundless greed, plans to exploit the knowledge and resources for corporate profits protected by tax payer funded space weapons.

[jsw_81]

34. Wow

:wow:

[waterman]

35. Wow...Awesome photoshopping!

Just kiddin, I kid you, I'm a kidder.

[windansea]

37. I wish I was that good n/t

[BlueCollar]

40. Beautiful

Thanks for sharing the information.

[opihimoimoi]

41. Mahalo for the pictures you all.

Beautiful and stunning.

Sending beer and fried fish

[Zomby Woof]

46. that is sublime

I cannot wait for more.

[alfredo]

47. (screenshot) I resized it to fit a 1280X1024

screen.

Here is the screenshot.

[otohara]

48. Simply Beautiful

great post - thanks