Space and Physics
PUBLISHED
Although it looks more like an abstract piece of graphic design, this image shows the colossal rings of Saturn sitting behind Tethys, one of Saturn’s moons.
The rest of this article is behind a paywall. Please sign in or subscribe to access the full content.The photograph was taken in visible light around 184,000 miles (296,000 kilometers) from Tethys on August 18, 2015 by the Cassini spacecraft. The image scale is 18 kilometers (11 miles) per pixel.
It was taken as part of the latest Cassini mission, a collaborative project between NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency, who have been studying the ringed planet and its satellites since 2004 through a series of expeditions.
This is just one of Saturn’s 62 known moons. Tethys, which is around 1,060 kilometers (660 miles) wide, is believed to be largely composed of ice.
Check out the full-sized image here.
