In a perfect world, the stunning images of Saturn and its environs sent periodically back from the Cassini-Huygens probe would be displayed on huge billboards around the world. Maybe right there in Times Square.
But at least we have the Internet. I'm going to start posting a monthly round-up of some of Cassini's best images, just so they don't get missed. Here's a few from December.
Right: A true-color shot of the planet, with ring shadows visible north of the equator. The planet rotates quickly enough (once every 10.5 hours) that it is squashed slightly at the center, a phenomenon visible here. Researchers believe the bluish tint in the northern hemisphere is a seasonal effect that will disappear once sunlight the northern "spring" returns.
More pictures below the jump.
Above: A photo taken on the side of the planet not illuminated by the sun, showing brown-gold rings and the icy white moon Tethys. The moon is about 665 miles in diameter.
Above: Ring shadows creep across the illuminated surface of the planet.
Above: The outer third of Saturn's C ring belt. The view is taken looking towards the sunlit side of the rings, from an angle of about 4
degrees below the ring plane.
Above: Bright fractures trace patterns across the surface of icy Dione, a moon measuring about 700 miles across.
More pictures as always, can be found at the CICLOPS.org site here (CICLOPS is the Cassini Imaging Central Laboratory for Operations, the ones responsible for putting these pictures together). The Cassini probe is a joint venture of NASA, the European Space
Agency, and the Italian Space Agency.
(Image Credits: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute)
