Rings Interrupted
Distant Titan, its northern hemisphere drenched in the sunlight of late spring, hangs above Saturn's rings. What might at first glance look like a gap between the rings and the planet is actually Saturn’s shadow. During most of Saturn's long year, the projection of the planet's shadow extends well beyond the edge of the A ring. But, with summer solstice fast approaching, the Sun is now higher in Saturn's sky and most of Saturn's A ring is completely shadow-free.
This view looks toward the sunlit side of the rings from about 3 degrees above the ring plane. The image was taken in red light with NASA's Cassini spacecraft wide-angle camera on Jan. 26, 2016.
The view was obtained at a distance of approximately 1.8 million miles (2.9 million kilometers) from Titan and at a Sun-Titan-spacecraft, or phase, angle of 84 degrees. Image scale on Titan is 109 miles (176 kilometers) per pixel.
The Cassini mission is a cooperative project of NASA, ESA (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. 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, Colorado.
For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov and http://www.nasa.gov/cassini. The Cassini imaging team homepage is at http://ciclops.org.
Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute
Last Updated: June 6, 2016
Tethys Tops Saturn | NASA
Saturn's moons Janus and Mimas coast in their silent orbits beyond the rings in this view from NASA's Cassini spacecraft. The ansa, or outer edge of the rings, is visible at left. Janus hangs above center, while Mimas shines at right. Owing to its irregular shape, Janus’ terminator – that line which separates day from night – is jagged, while Mimas’ smooth terminator attests to its round shape and larger size.
The image was taken in green light with Cassini's narrow-angle camera on Oct. 27, 2015.
The view was acquired at a distance of approximately 598,000 miles (963,000 kilometers) from Janus and at a Sun-Janus-spacecraft, or phase, angle of 86 degrees. Image scale at Janus is 3.6 miles (5.8 kilometers) per pixel. The distance to Mimas was 680,000 miles (1.1 million kilometers) for an image scale of 4.1 miles (6.6 kilometer) per pixel.
The Cassini mission is a cooperative project of NASA, ESA (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. 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, Colorado.
For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov and http://www.nasa.gov/cassini. The Cassini imaging team homepage is at http://ciclops.org.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute
Last Updated: May 31, 2016
Editor: Tony Greicius
Most planetary rings appear to be shaped, at least in part, by moons orbiting their planets, but nowhere is that more evident than in Saturn's F ring. Filled with kinks, jets, strands and gores, the F ring has been sculpted by its two neighboring moons Prometheus (seen here) and Pandora. Even more amazing is the fact that the moons remain hard at work reshaping the ring even today.
Prometheus (53 miles, or 86 kilometers across) shapes the F ring through consistent, repeated gravitational nudges and occasionally enters the ring itself (clearing out material and creating a "gore" feature, see PIA12785). Although the gravitational force of Prometheus is much smaller than that of Saturn, even small nudges can tweak the ring particles' orbits to create new patterns in the ring.
This view looks toward the sunlit side of the rings from about 12 degrees above the ring plane. The image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on Feb. 21 2016.
The view was obtained at a distance of approximately 1.4 million miles (2.3 million kilometers) from Saturn and at a Sun-Saturn-spacecraft or phase angle of 105 degrees. Image scale is 9 miles (14 kilometers) per pixel.
The Cassini mission is a cooperative project of NASA, ESA (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. 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, Colorado.
For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov and http://www.nasa.gov/cassini. The Cassini imaging team homepage is at http://ciclops.org.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute
Last Updated: May 16, 2016
Editor: Tony Greicius
Life is hard for a little moon. Epimetheus, seen here with Saturn in the background, is lumpy and misshapen, thanks in part to its size and formation process. Epimetheus did not form with all of those craters in place -- rather, bombardment over the eons has left this tiny moon's surface heavily pitted.
Epimetheus (70 miles or 113 kilometers across) is too small to have sufficient self-gravity to form itself into a round shape, and it has too little internal heat to sustain ongoing geological activity. Thus, its battered shape provides hints about its formation, and the myriad craters across its surface bear testament to the impacts it has suffered over its long history.
North on Epimetheus is up and rotated 5 degrees to the left. The image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on Dec. 6, 2015.
The view was obtained at a distance of approximately 1,670 miles (2,690 kilometers) from Epimetheus. Image scale on Epimetheus is 520 feet (160 meters) per pixel.
The Cassini mission is a cooperative project of NASA, ESA (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. 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, Colorado.
For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov and http://www.nasa.gov/cassini. The Cassini imaging team homepage is at http://ciclops.org.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute
Last Updated: May 9, 2016
Editor: Tony Greicius
nuestros anillos no pueden quitarse,
nuestros anillos no pueden borrarse,
nuestros anillos no pueden sortearse,
porque responden a un universo en escala,
que no puede romperse ni quebrarse...
nuestros anillos no son símbolos de promesas,
nuestros anillos no son signos de compromisos,
nuestros anillos no responden a credos ficticios,
nuestros anillos son revelación de la creación y sus dichos...
aquí las existencias mantenemos un ritmo,
que no encaja en lo que los humanos interpretan,
o compran y venden creyendo que se trata de lo mismo,
aquí no hay mercaderes,
ni caravanas que cambien racionalidades por cinismos...
si ustedes conocieran su historia,
reconocerían el sentido de los anillos,
aquellos que portaban los nubios,
mucho antes de los egipcios,
los anillos son hilos de plata,
que tejen entre las almas sus caminos,
aquí nadie miente el afecto,
ni se traiciona a sí mismo,
la "presencia" nos hace "presentes",
y la ausencia no es significado entre nuestros dichos...
no entendemos a qué han venido,
con tecnologías propias de espías indignos...
aquí no necesitamos de la hipocresía humana,
ni tampoco de sus promesas falsas y menos de sus mentidos compromisos...
aquí sabemos de labores,
y de crear futuro para nuestros hijos...
SATURNO es parte del universo eterno,
y de allí nuestros anillos...
aquello que nos ha creado,
es nuestro sello y signo...
no necesitamos de humanos,
ni tampoco de sus conflictos.
JULIO 12, 2016.-
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