Majestic Saturn, in the Infrared: This false-color composite image shows Saturn’s rings and southern
hemisphere. The composite image was made from 65 individual observations by Cassini’s visual and infrared
mapping spectrometer in the near-infrared portion of the light spectrum on Nov. 1, 2008. The observations were
each six minutes long.
Neon Saturn:
Flying over the unlit side of Saturn’s rings, the Cassini spacecraft captures Saturn’s glow,
represented in brilliant shades of
electric blue, sapphire and mint
green, while the planet’s shadow
casts a wide net on the rings.
This striking false-color mosaic
was created from 25 images taken over a period of 13 hours while
the spacecraft was 1.58 million kilometers (1 million miles) from the
planet and 34.6 degrees above
the ring plane. In this view, Cassini
was looking down on the northern, unlit side of the rings, which
are rendered visible by sunlight
southern face.
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