Saturn And Moons Caught On Camera By Cassini Spacecraft (PHOTOS)

Is Saturn our most photogenic planet? Have a look at this magnificent shot featuring Saturn's famous rings and Enceladus, one of the planet's 62 moons. The image was snapped recently by the Cassini spacecraft, a probe that's on year 15 of what could be a 20-year mission to explore Saturn and its moons. Of course, it's just one of many awe-inspiring images captured by Cassini. The slideshow below shows twenty more.

Coincidentally, the best time of the year to view Saturn started February 8, and some amateur astronomers are gearing up for the 11th, when the planet will rise with the moon in the evening. If you're planning to gaze at Saturn on Saturday night, you'll be able to see the rings--if you happen to have a telescope.

(All images and captions courtesy NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute, unless otherwise noted.)

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Comments

[TheLibraryOfCodex]

05:54 AM on 02/16/2012

Crown jewel of the Solar system.

Beautiful.

[juls1314]

08:56 PM on 02/14/2012

Gorgeous.

[R34S0N]

10:06 PM on 02/13/2012

Great stuff, Cassini has given us some spectacular views. Saturn isnt the only planet visible right now. Venus and Jupiter are out in the early evening followed by Mars then Saturn. Wicked time for viewing planets right now, if I could only get some clear skys!!!

[I try to be reasonable]

11:57 AM on 02/13/2012

Saw this picture posted by Phil Plait at the blog Bad Astronomy over on Discovermagazine.com. I encourage you to actually click on "Launch Fullscreen" button, because the bottom of the photograph is cropped off if you don't. When you view fullscreen, you can see geysers of liquid water shooting out the bottom of the moon. It is thought to have subglacial water, much like Europa of Jupiter. What is less than certain is whether it merely exists in pockets or if there is a subglacial ocean/moon-sized ocean underneath.

[mamacat]

03:36 PM on 02/12/2012

Thank you for the marvelous photos!

Just a thought, why does Hyperion look so different from any other moons that I have yet seen? Is it possible that it is a captured comet?

[wrobbins]

04:02 PM on 02/14/2012

Unlikely - comets have far too much momentum to be yanked completely out of their orbit like that. It could be a captured asteroid, like plenty of other moons.

[cre8iveman]

11:26 AM on 02/21/2012

Actually, many of the moons we see in the Saturn system and Jupiter system have a high degree of variety and features that set them apart from one another.

[Papi-Chullo]

10:29 AM on 02/12/2012

More evidence below for the papi-chullo theory on magnetic effect of space and time.

[Papi-Chullo]

10:21 AM on 02/12/2012

from article
Sun-Watchi­­ng NASA Satellite RHESSI Sees 40,000 Solar Flares In Decade In Space

"This opens up new questions for our model," Dennis said. "The electrons and ions have different masses, but we'd still expect them to appear at the same locations in the flare. Perhaps the ions are accelerated in a different way and end up traveling on different magnetic field lines from the electrons."

papi;
NOTE
traveling on different magnetic field lines

[Papi-Chullo]

10:18 AM on 02/12/2012

from article
Sun-Watchi­ng NASA Satellite RHESSI Sees 40,000 Solar Flares In Decade In Space

New "squadron" of four satellites are being prepared to orbit the magnetosph­ere and map the positive and negative cut-offs in the magnetosph­erics around Earth. Usually cause the pole phenomena of the "borealis" (boreali? "northern" and "southern" lights) and other sometimes troubling effects, i.e., knocking off telegraph signals in wires before the US Civil War, tripping relays causing "black-out­s" and other recently discovered problems.

papi;
the advancement of science, even if only in the magnetic application of time and space....... ahhhhhhhhhhhhh - my therioes may be fact someday....scientific fact.

[Papi-Chullo]

10:12 AM on 02/12/2012

from article
Sun-Watching NASA Satellite RHESSI Sees 40,000 Solar Flares In Decade In Space

"During a solar eruption, intense magnetic activity causes areas around darkened patches, "

papi;
to all, this adds evidence to my magnetic theory/theories..........

[SarcasticFringehead]

11:08 PM on 02/10/2012

So much beauty in this mysterious universe; so little time to admire it all.

[Papi-Chullo]

10:30 AM on 02/12/2012

I have another theory on that, based on the electromagnetic theory of eternity......would you like to hear it? PURE AGNOSTIC of course.

[SarcasticFringehead]

05:03 PM on 02/12/2012

Sure, Papi, I'd like to hear your theory.

Lay it on me.

[Al Schrader]

06:47 PM on 02/10/2012

I saw Saturn's rings in person for the first time in 1966 from my front yard in Miami through the 60 power Tasco telescope my dad bought me. You could see the real colors. I was ten years old.
I'll never forget how it looked for as long as I live.

We humans have almost no idea what is out there, and we hopelessly can't get there.
But, I've been working on this for a long time and I'm ahead of everybody.
Some of the technology I have, you wouldn't believe.....Alfie-

[SwiftJonathan]

08:24 PM on 02/10/2012

Hopeless... indeed.

:-)

[Al Schrader]

08:39 PM on 02/10/2012

We can't even set foot on the Moon. It's been 38 years since we've been there.
It's hopeless...Al-

[Papi-Chullo]

11:24 AM on 02/13/2012

could you try to describe the "real colors" that you saw, from your Tasco telescope, as you viewd saturn from your backyard? Please.

[Al Schrader]

02:17 PM on 02/13/2012

Sure Papi- It's magnificent when you see it live and not a photo or artist's rendition.
Same basic colors as you see on here - pale and subdued. The rings don't spin and there is no movement. At 60X you can't see the moons at all.
It's a magical thing. Sits there dead quiet, mysterious as it moves out of the eye piece - my Tasco didn't have a clock drive .

I recently spent a lot of time asking Charlie Duke questions. Charlie is one of the last men to set foot on the Moon - there aint gonna be any more men on the Moon.
These are the only men that will ever travel beyond the earth. I tried to ask as many questions as I could think of. There is so much stuff out there that no body could even imagine in their wildest dreams what it is....Alfie-

[wrobbins]

04:04 PM on 02/14/2012

Saturn is beautiful, even in a small telescope. It's pale yellow, tilted, just floating in space.

[Ronald Ferreira]

05:56 PM on 02/10/2012

the moons must be far away from saturn and not in the rings

[kareemachan]

01:20 PM on 02/11/2012

Actually, at least two of the moons are in the rings, making two of the gaps you can see.

[Papi-Chullo]

10:34 AM on 02/12/2012

two moons.... two magnetic bases???????? just possibly?????

[n4tvq]

05:53 PM on 02/10/2012

Quit teasing and show us Uranus.... { :- o

[TheLibraryOfCodex]

05:55 AM on 02/16/2012

-drops trousers-


There

Happy now?

[danno1400i]

05:38 PM on 02/10/2012

where is spock when we need him

[snelsonjr204]

05:52 PM on 02/10/2012

Spock went home. Vulcans stopped killing eachother Eons ago..

[snelsonjr204]

05:56 PM on 02/10/2012

Unless you take the "timeline" literally. In which case, some guy in the boonies is about to launch the first "Warp Drive" test vehicle...

[liephman88]

05:32 PM on 02/10/2012

Breath taking and lonely at the same time. If only the whole of the human race really understood the vast emptiness of space and the tentative foot hold on life we have here Earth, then just maybe we would get along and be better stewards....... Bra! Ha! Ha ha ha ha ! we are so screwed!

[Papi-Chullo]

06:47 PM on 02/10/2012

lol

[TheLibraryOfCodex]

05:56 AM on 02/16/2012

The Pale Blue Dot should be all that's required to change the mindset of humanity.

No words necessary.