NASA probe Cassini sends photos close-up view of Saturn’s rings
NASA’s Cassini spacecraft has beamed back amazing close-up photographs of Saturn’s rings. The icy debris is already being nicknamed “straw” and “propellers.”
These images are 550 metres, which is on the scale of Earth’s tallest buildings.
Cassini is now about halfway through its penultimate mission phase – 20 orbits that dive past the outer edge of the main ring system. The ring-grazing orbits began last November and will continue until late April, when Cassini begins its grand finale.
During the 22 finale orbits, Cassini will repeatedly plunge through the gap between the rings and Saturn. The first finale plunge is scheduled for April 26.
Straw in the B Ring’s edge. This image shows a region in Saturn’s outer B ring. NASA’s Cassini spacecraft viewed this area at a level of detail twice as high as it had ever been observed before. NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute
The Cassini has sent back the closest-ever views of small moons Daphnis and Pandora.
Cassini came a bit closer to the rings during its arrival at Saturn, but the quality of those arrival images was not as high as in the new views.
Those precious few observations only looked out on the backlit side of the rings, and the team chose short exposure times to minimise smearing due to Cassini’s fast motion as it vaulted over the ring plane. This resulted in images that were scientifically stunning, but somewhat dark and noisy.
In contrast, the close views Cassini has begun capturing in its ring-grazing orbits are taking in both the backlit and sunlit side of the rings.
“As the person who planned those initial orbit-insertion ring images – which remained our most detailed views of the rings for the past 13 years – I am taken aback by how vastly improved are the details in this new collection,” said Cassini Imaging Team Lead Carolyn Porco, of Space Science Institute in the US.
“These close views represent the opening of an entirely new window onto Saturn’s rings, and over the next few months we look forward to even more exciting data as we train our cameras on other parts of the rings closer to the planet,” said Matthew Tiscareno, a Cassini scientist at the SETI Institute, Mountain View, California.
Saturn’s B Ring, finer than ever. This image shows a region in Saturn’s outer B ring. NASA’s Cassini spacecraft viewed this area at a level of detail twice as high as it had ever been observed before. And from this view, it is clear that there are still finer details to uncover. NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute
