Amazing Picture of Saturn

**Donger** · 03-02-2007, 12:35 PM

No, not that crappy car brand. The planet.

Surely one of the most gorgeous sights the solar system has to offer, Saturn sits enveloped by the full splendor of its stately rings.

Taking in the rings in their entirety was the focus of this particular imaging sequence. Therefore, the camera exposure times were just right to capture the dark-side of its rings, but longer than that required to properly expose the globe of sunlit Saturn. Consequently, the sunlit half of the planet is overexposed.

Between the blinding light of day and the dark of night, there is a strip of twilight on the globe where colorful details in the atmosphere can be seen. Bright clouds dot the bluish-grey northern polar region here. In the south, the planet's night side glows golden in reflected light from the rings' sunlit face.

Saturn's shadow stretches completely across the rings in this view, taken on Jan. 19, 2007, in contrast to what Cassini saw when it arrived in 2004 (see PIA05429).

The view is a mosaic of 36 images -- that is, 12 separate sets of red, green and blue images -- taken over the course of about 2.5 hours, as Cassini scanned across the entire main ring system.

This view looks toward the unlit side of the rings from about 40 degrees above the ring plane.

The images in this natural-color view were obtained with the Cassini spacecraft wide-angle camera at a distance of approximately 1.23 million kilometers (764,000 miles) from Saturn. Image scale is 70 kilometers (44 miles) per pixel.

The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras were designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The imaging operations center is based at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colo.

For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov. The Cassini imaging team homepage is at http://ciclops.org .

.

**Donger** · 03-02-2007, 12:36 PM

**The Franchise** · 03-02-2007, 12:37 PM

That looks photoshopped.......

Hammock Parties · 03-02-2007, 12:38 PM

Looks chubby and mannish.

**Donger** · 03-02-2007, 12:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GoChiefs

Looks chubby and mannish.

So you're excited. That's good.

Chiefs_Fan · 03-02-2007, 12:40 PM

NASA has better things to do than photoshop saturn.

**Donger** · 03-02-2007, 12:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pestilenceaf23

That looks photoshopped.......

Why do you say that?

**Donger** · 03-02-2007, 12:41 PM

Wow.

.

**gblowfish** · 03-02-2007, 12:43 PM

I'd rather see Saturn than Uranus.

Chiefs_Fan · 03-02-2007, 12:43 PM

Cool is that earth in the background?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Donger

Wow.

.

**Donger** · 03-02-2007, 12:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chiefs_Fan

Cool is that earth in the background?

No, that's one of Saturn's moons.

**noa** · 03-02-2007, 12:45 PM

Cassini's division has never looked so sexy

**The Franchise** · 03-02-2007, 12:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Donger

Why do you say that?

It just looks fake to me. I expect a planet to be round....but that almost looks to round. I figured the rings would look more gaseous....not solid like they do in that picture.

Archie F. Swin · 03-02-2007, 12:50 PM

looks like a K-TEL LP

**RealSNR** · 03-02-2007, 12:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pestilenceaf23

It just looks fake to me. I expect a planet to be round....but that almost looks to round. I figured the rings would look more gaseous....not solid like they do in that picture.

The rings are made of revolving dust and ice particles, not gas

03-02-2007, 12:35 PM
Donger "Think BOOM!" Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: 33.675° N 106.475° W Casino cash: $10209900 VARSITY	Amazing Picture of Saturn No, not that crappy car brand. The planet. Surely one of the most gorgeous sights the solar system has to offer, Saturn sits enveloped by the full splendor of its stately rings. Taking in the rings in their entirety was the focus of this particular imaging sequence. Therefore, the camera exposure times were just right to capture the dark-side of its rings, but longer than that required to properly expose the globe of sunlit Saturn. Consequently, the sunlit half of the planet is overexposed. Between the blinding light of day and the dark of night, there is a strip of twilight on the globe where colorful details in the atmosphere can be seen. Bright clouds dot the bluish-grey northern polar region here. In the south, the planet's night side glows golden in reflected light from the rings' sunlit face. Saturn's shadow stretches completely across the rings in this view, taken on Jan. 19, 2007, in contrast to what Cassini saw when it arrived in 2004 (see PIA05429). The view is a mosaic of 36 images -- that is, 12 separate sets of red, green and blue images -- taken over the course of about 2.5 hours, as Cassini scanned across the entire main ring system. This view looks toward the unlit side of the rings from about 40 degrees above the ring plane. The images in this natural-color view were obtained with the Cassini spacecraft wide-angle camera at a distance of approximately 1.23 million kilometers (764,000 miles) from Saturn. Image scale is 70 kilometers (44 miles) per pixel. The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras were designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The imaging operations center is based at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colo. For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov. The Cassini imaging team homepage is at http://ciclops.org . .
Posts: 181,055

03-02-2007, 12:36 PM	#2
Donger "Think BOOM!" Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: 33.675° N 106.475° W Casino cash: $10209900 VARSITY	. Attached Thumbnails __________________ I think the young people enjoy it when I "get down," verbally, don't you?
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03-02-2007, 12:37 PM	#3
The Franchise Most Valuable Villain Join Date: Dec 2006 Casino cash: $2955047	That looks photoshopped.......
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03-02-2007, 12:38 PM	#4
Hammock Parties I'll be back. Join Date: Nov 2002 Casino cash: $4560478	Looks chubby and mannish. __________________ Chiefs game films
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03-02-2007, 12:40 PM	#6
Chiefs_Fan Starter Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: St. Charles County Casino cash: $9259900	NASA has better things to do than photoshop saturn.
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03-02-2007, 12:41 PM	#8
Donger "Think BOOM!" Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: 33.675° N 106.475° W Casino cash: $10209900 VARSITY	Wow. . Attached Thumbnails __________________ I think the young people enjoy it when I "get down," verbally, don't you?
Posts: 181,055

03-02-2007, 12:43 PM	#9
gblowfish Be Kind To Your Pets Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Glorious Independence, MO Casino cash: $17646178 VARSITY	I'd rather see Saturn than Uranus.
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03-02-2007, 12:45 PM	#12
noa Band Join Date: Sep 2005 Casino cash: $1445453	Cassini's division has never looked so sexy __________________ Sometimes you eat the bear and sometimes, well, he eats you.
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03-02-2007, 12:50 PM	#14
Archie F. Swin This is the way Join Date: Sep 2000 Location: Wichita Falls, Texas Casino cash: $9975673	looks like a K-TEL LP __________________ "No Two People Will Do It The Same, You got It Down...When You Appear to Be In Pain!"
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