Advertisement

spaceSpace and Physics
clockPUBLISHED

Cassini Captures Gorgeous Shots Of Two Moons Peeking Through Saturn's Rings

author

Tom Hale

author

Tom Hale

Senior Journalist

Tom is a writer in London with a Master's degree in Journalism whose editorial work covers anything from health and the environment to technology and archaeology.

Senior Journalist

NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute

NASA's Cassini spacecraft has captured some sleek black-and-white imagery of two moons in the midst of Saturn’s signature rings.

The small white dot in the top left corner is the slower and more distant moon Atlas, which is about 30 kilometers (19 miles) wide. In the bottom right corner, in the thin band of black, you can see Pan, which follows a quicker and closer orbit.

Advertisement

Pan is the slightly smaller of the two moons, at around 28 kilometers (17 miles) in width. Saturn has at least another 60 confirmed moons.

The recently released image was taken on July 9 around 5.5 million kilometers (3.4 million) miles from Atlas. For a sense of perspective, each pixel measures about 33 kilometers (21 miles). The spacecraft is equipped with “superhuman senses”, able to capture wavelengths beyond the abilities of human sight or a conventional camera.

Cassini launched in 1997, and since then it has been studying and observing the oh-so-photogenic planet of Saturn, returning glorious shots like this. The mission is due to end with a descent into Saturn's atmosphere next year.

Enjoy the full image below.

Advertisement

NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute


ARTICLE POSTED IN

spaceSpace and Physics
  • tag
  • space,

  • nasa,

  • Saturn,

  • cassini,

  • moon,

  • ESA,

  • Italian Space Agency,

  • Saturn's Moon

FOLLOW ONNEWSGoogele News