I have been alive for 40 years. For 37 of those I have been deeply fascinated by space and spaceflight. I have read as much as I can and looked at countless thousands of images.

Even after 37 years there are images that can simply make me think, "wow". The previous image is one of those. It is beautiful and just so alien. I hope NASA manage to produce a colour version of this image.

Curious Clouds
June 13, 2006

Saturn's atmosphere produces beautiful and sometimes perplexing features. Is the bright feature below center a rare crossing of a feature from a zone to a belt, or is it an illusion created by different cloud layers at different levels? The answer is not always easy to determine.

The image was taken using a spectral filter sensitive to wavelengths of infrared light centered at 938 nanometers. The image was acquired with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on May 12, 2006 at a distance of approximately 2.9 million kilometers (1.8 million miles) from Saturn and at a Sun-Saturn-spacecraft, or phase, angle of 145 degrees. Image scale is 17 kilometers (10 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 .

Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute

Source: NASA/JPL - Cassini

Definitely! Oh, how I long to be in space!

Me too, Waspie, believe me...the feeling never leaves you on once you're bitten.

There is a certain chill that runs up the spine when something like that last image is made manifest.

There was a time, many years ago, when I stood there watching a man set foot upon the moon, and I thought to myself that I had seen everything. I looked at the first prints of the lunar photography and was overwhelmed.

I was wrong. What's been returned from the space probes since Apollo...from Voyager to Cassini-Huygens, and of course Hubble, has been mind numbing.

It never ceases to amaze me...

Its just an amazing feeling to stare up into the night sky, armed with your trusty binocs or scope. Its a amazing feeling not conveyable in words. You feel so small.

And now, Spitzier.

I know the feeling well frogfish. It can't help but get to you, although it affects different people in different ways. When I was about 13 I introduced my best friend to astronomy. Through looking at the wonders of the sky through a small Newtonian he found God and remains deeply religious to this day. For me the same sights only confirmed my atheistic view.

I am not old enough to remember Apollo in the same way as MID, but Neil Armstrong walking on the moon remains my earliest memory (with the possible exception of my sister falling into a fish pond). I was just 3½ years old but I remember sitting on my fathers lap and watching human beings on the moon. I was too young to comprehend the enormity of what I was seeing but from my fathers excitement I knew it was something special. I was hooked on all things to do with space from that moment.

The irony of my fathers excitement has never been lost on me. At the age of 8 or 9 he received a head wound from another of von Brauns inventions, a V2. Swords into ploughshares indeed.

The first time I actually looked up at the nightsky and though about it, I got scared. I felt totally lost without knowledge. Gaining knowledge of the cosmos only makes my journey through the stars more and more exciting, all the while that the nightsky never ceases to amaze.

I can't imagine how great a feeling it was to see man walk on the moon. I wasn't born yet

No but you are young enough to see man return there. Young enough to see man set up colonies on the moon and to walk on Mars. I may not be.

That is true. Hopefully, they will be able to accomplish some of those within your lifetime Waspie...what a great thing that would be. You definitely will see them return.

Saturn Aslant
June 15, 2006

This oblique view of Saturn shows what may be localized upwellings in the clouds of Saturn's southern hemisphere. Although the contrast is low, a vortex is visible near lower right.
This view looks toward the unlit side of the rings.

The image was taken using a spectral filter sensitive to wavelengths of infrared light centered at 938 nanometers. The image was obtained using the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on May 8, 2006 at a distance of approximately 2.8 million kilometers (1.8 million miles) from Saturn and at a Sun-Saturn-spacecraft, or phase, angle of 152 degrees. Image scale is 17 kilometers (10 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 .

Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute

Source: NASA/JPL - Cassini

Saturn's Night Lights
June 16, 2006

The dark side of the ringplane glows with scattered light, including the luminous F ring, which shines like a rope of brilliant neon. Below, Dione (1,126 kilometers, or 700 miles across) presents an exquisitely thin crescent.
The image was taken using a spectral filter sensitive to wavelengths of infrared light centered at 930 nanometers. The image was acquired with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on May 3, 2006 at a distance of approximately 1.8 million kilometers (1.1 million miles) from Dione and at a Sun-Dione-spacecraft, or phase, angle of 160 degrees. Image scale is 11 kilometers (7 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 .

Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute

Source: NASA/JPL - Cassini

Saturn Aslant is simple yet astounding.

Pattern Upon Pattern
June 19, 2006

Saturn's restless clouds offer endless complexity, such as this small-scale repeating pattern upon which is superimposed a larger-scale wavelike modulation of the boundary between a bright zone and a darker belt. The pattern may result from density or wind discontinuities.

The image was taken with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on May 11, 2006 at a distance of approximately 2.9 million kilometers (1.8 million miles) from Saturn. The image was obtained using a spectral filter sensitive to wavelengths of infrared light centered at 938 nanometers. Image scale is 17 kilometers (11 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 .

Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute

Source: NASA/JPL - Cassini

Uncovering Rhea
June 20, 2006

Two Saturnian moons meet in the sky. Dione departs after crossing the face of Rhea for several minutes.

Dione (1,126 kilometers, or 700 miles across), at right, has a notably smoother-looking surface than Rhea (1,528 kilometers, or 949 miles across), suggesting the former has been modified more recently.

The image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on May 14, 2006 at a distance of approximately 2.7 million kilometers (1.7 million miles) from Dione and 3.1 million kilometers (1.9 million miles) from Rhea. The Sun-moon-spacecraft, or phase, angle is about 134 degrees on both moons. Image scale is 16 kilometers (10 miles) per pixel on Dione and 18 kilometers (11 miles) per pixel on Rhea.

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 .

Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute

Source: NASA/JPL - Cassini

Beautiful Image! I may put this on my desktop. Imaes like this make me appreciate and at the same time not even able to comprehend the complexity of space.

Such simple pictures makes you appreciate the beauty of space!

From Cloudy to Clear
June 21, 2006

During a recent flyby of Titan, the Cassini spacecraft looked beyond the utterly overcast moon and spied clear, distant Rhea in the blackness.
Titan (5,150 kilometers, or 3,200 miles across) is two-and-a-half times smaller than Earth and much less massive. This circumstance causes its atmosphere to extend to much higher altitudes above the surface than does Earth's. The Cassini spacecraft is unable to fly much closer than about 1000 kilometers (600 miles) above Titan's surface -- much closer, and the spacecraft would experience excessive torques from the atmosphere that could interfere with its ability to track the target. By contrast, the International Space Station orbits Earth at an altitude of about 350 kilometers (220 miles).

The bright, fresh crater on Rhea (1,528 kilometers, or 949 miles across) appears near the center of the moon's crescent.

The image was taken in visible-light with the Cassini spacecraft wide-angle camera on May 20, 2006, at a distance of approximately 53,000 kilometers (33,000 miles) from Titan and 873,000 kilometers (543,000 miles) from Rhea. Image scale is 320 meters (1,050 feet) per pixel on Titan and 5 kilometers (3 miles) per pixel on Rhea.

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 .

Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute

Source: NASA/JPL - Cassini

A Tale of Two Moons
June 21, 2006

Many denizens of the Saturn system wear a uniformly gray mantle of darkened ice, but not these two moons. The brightest body in the solar system, Enceladus, is contrasted here against Titan's smoggy, golden murk.
Ironically, what these two moons hold in common gives rise to their stark contrasting colors. Both bodies are, to varying degrees, geologically active. For Enceladus, its southern polar vents emit a spray of icy particles that coats the small moon, giving it a clean, white veneer. On Titan, yet undefined processes are supplying the atmosphere with methane and other chemicals that are broken down by sunlight. These chemicals are creating the thick yellow-orange haze that is spread through the atmosphere and, over geologic time, falls and coats the surface.

The thin, bluish haze along Titan's limb is caused when sunlight is scattered by haze particles roughly the same size as the wavelength of blue light, or around 400 nanometers.

Images taken using red, green and blue spectral filters were combined to create this natural color view. The images were obtained on Feb. 5, 2006, using the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera at a distance of 4.1 million kilometers (2.5 million miles) from Enceladus and 5.3 million kilometers (3.3 miles) from Titan. Resolution in the original images was 25 kilometers (16 miles) per pixel on Enceladus and 32 kilometers (20 miles) per pixel on Titan. The view has been magnified by a factor of two.

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 .

Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute

Source: NASA/JPL - Cassini

Both pictures are beautiful..especially since 1 is in focus while the other moon is not.

In a silent orbital ballet, Saturn's crater-covered moon Rhea slips between the moons Mimas and Enceladus. The dark sides of Enceladus (bottom) and Mimas (top) are dimly illuminated by reflected light from Saturn.
Rhea is 1,528 kilometers (949 miles) across, Mimas is 397 kilometers (247 miles) across, and Enceladus is 505 kilometers (314 miles) across.

The movie was created using 59 clear-filter images taken over a period of about 40 minutes. The images were acquired by the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on Jan. 27, 2006, at a mean distance of approximately 3 million kilometers (1.9 million miles) from Rhea, 3.5 million kilometers (2.2 million miles) from Mimas, and 3.7 million kilometers (2.3 million miles) from Enceladus. The image scale is approximately 18 kilometers (11 miles) per pixel on Rhea, 21 kilometers (13 miles) per pixel on Mimas, and 22 kilometers (14 miles) per pixel on Enceladus.

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 .

Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute

Source: NASA/JPL - Cassini

It's mesmerizing just to watch the stars go by...this is just as good.

Three of Saturn's moons swim past in this movie sequence of images from the Cassini spacecraft. These sequences, called mutual events, are useful for refining scientists' understanding the orbits of the moons.
The movie follows Epimetheus (116 kilometers, or 72 miles across) as it passes in front of Titan (5,150 kilometers, or 3,200 miles across) and then Dione (1,126 kilometers, or 700 miles across).

The faint object that appears at the left, below the ringplane, halfway through the movie is a background star.

The movie was created using 24 clear-filter images taken over a period of about 40 minutes. The images were acquired by the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on Jan. 5, 2006, at a mean distance of approximately 3 million kilometers (1.9 million miles) from Epimetheus. The image scale is approximately 18 kilometers (11 miles) per pixel on Epimetheus, 25 kilometers (16 miles) per pixel on Titan and 20 kilometers (12 miles) per pixel on Dione.

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 .

Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute

Source: NASA/JPL - Cassini

The slim crescent of the moon Rhea glides silently onto the featureless, golden face of Saturn in this mesmerizing color movie. In an interplay of contrast and shadow, the moon goes dark against the planet, and then its crescent suddenly brightens as it slips in front of Saturn's night side.
This view looks down onto the unlit side of Saturn's rings, which cast soft, linear shadows onto the planet's northern hemisphere.

The movie was created using 60 images taken using red, green and blue spectral filters over a period of about 45 minutes.

The images were acquired by the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on March 21, 2006, at a distance of approximately 221,000 kilometers (137,000 miles) from Rhea. The image scale is approximately 13 kilometers (8 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 .

Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute

Source: NASA/JPL - Cassini

Thank you Waspie for those lovely a scintillating clips!

Saturn's moons Janus and Epimetheus are captured swinging around Saturn's rings and past Dione in this movie sequence from the Cassini spacecraft.

The spacecraft repeatedly imaged the two moons just as they were about to round the outside edge of the rings, which were out of view to the left. Janus and Epimetheus orbit Saturn at nearly the same distance and velocity, although (as seen here) Janus is several tens of thousands of kilometers ahead of Epimetheus and farther from Cassini. Dione is actually quite far in the background compared to the small moons.

At the beginning of the movie, Epimetheus (116 kilometers, or 72 miles across) is at the left, Janus (181 kilometers, or 113 miles across) is at the center, and Dione (1,126 kilometers, or 700 miles across) is at the right.

The movie was created using 18 clear-filter images taken over a period of about 30 minutes. The images were acquired by the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on Dec. 30, 2005, at a mean distance of approximately 2.3 million kilometers (1.4 million miles) from Janus and 2.3 million kilometers (1.4 million miles) from Epimetheus. The image scale is approximately 14 kilometers (9 miles) per pixel on Janus and Epimetheus, and 16 kilometers (10 miles) per pixel on Dione.

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 .

Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute

Source: NASA/JPL - Cassini

It reminds me of just lying in the hammock and watching the planets march through the constellations.

Saturn's small, walnut-shaped moon, Pan, embedded in the planet's rings, coasts along in this movie clip from the Cassini spacecraft.

The movie begins with Pan (26 kilometers, or 16 miles across) and the rings against the night side of Saturn. Cassini stays fixed on Pan as the moon heads toward the outside edge, or ansa, of the Encke Gap (325 kilometers, or 200 miles wide) in which it orbits. Saturn's dark shadow is seen stretching across the middle of the ringplane. Midway through the sequence, the far side of the rings emerges from behind the planet, but eventually is completely darkened by Saturn's shadow.

The small, bright moving object that appears from the lower left, near the end of the sequence, is a bright background star.

The 40 images in this movie were taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on April 29, 2006, at a distance of approximately 209,000 kilometers (130,000 miles) from Pan. The image scale is approximately 1 kilometer (0.6 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 .

Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute

Source: NASA/JPL - Cassini

The pleasure is all mine. I get huge enjoyment out of posting these clips, for me it is a labour of love. If others enjoy it too then that is a bonus.

If just one person that reads these threads decides to read a book on astronomy, or pick up a pair of binoculars and look at the night sky then I will consider it a job well done.

It doesn't matter what your creed or beliefs are one thing that is a certain truth... the universe is a wonderful, bewildering and beautiful place.

Torn-up Terrain
June 22, 2006

Ithaca Chasma rips across the cratered surface of Tethys, creating a scar more than 1,000 kilometers (600 miles) long, from north to south.

Cassini got a closer look at this ancient rift during a Sept. 2005 flyby of Tethys (1,071 kilometers, or 665 miles across). See Steep Scarps for a high-resolution view of the chasm.

This view shows the Saturn-facing side of Tethys. North is up.

The image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on May 21, 2006 at a distance of approximately 715,000 kilometers (444,000 miles) from Tethys and at a Sun-Tethys-spacecraft, or phase, angle of 48 degrees. Image scale is 4 kilometers (2 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 .

Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute

Source: NASA/JPL - Cassini

Saturn's Streamers
June 23, 2006

The long, gently meandering character of the clouds in this view is a tracer of the generally stable flow of Saturn's atmosphere. The flow is disrupted at turbulent belt-zone boundaries and, here and there, by eddies and vortices.
The image was taken with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on May 11, 2006 at a distance of approximately 2.9 million kilometers (1.8 million miles) from Saturn and at a Sun-Saturn-spacecraft, or phase, angle of 147 degrees. The image was obtained using a spectral filter sensitive to wavelengths of infrared light centered at 938 nanometers. Image scale is 17 kilometers (11 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 .

Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute

Source: NASA/JPL - Cassini

Moons of Interest
June 26, 2006

Wrinkled and cracked Enceladus hangs in the distance as the pitted ring moon Janus, at right, rounds the outer edge of the F ring.
Enceladus (505 kilometers, or 314 miles across) is remarkable for its actively venting south polar region, while Janus (181 kilometers, or 113 miles across) is known for its orbital swap with the moon Epimetheus.

The bright core of the F ring is perhaps 50 kilometers wide and contains numerous clumps and kinks. Dimmer, flanking ringlets on either side of the core wind into a tight spiral structure, discovered in Cassini images.

The image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on May 21, 2006 at a distance of approximately 565,000 kilometers (351,000 miles) from Janus, 702,000 kilometers (436,000 miles) from Enceladus and 530,000 kilometers (329,000 miles) from Saturn. Image scale is 3 kilometers (2 miles) per pixel on Janus and 4 kilometers (2 miles) per pixel on Enceladus.

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 .

Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute

Source: NASA/JPL - Cassini

Good job Waspie

Ragged Crescent
June 27, 2006

Rhea's devastated surface creates a jagged terminator as mountains and crater rims break-up the line between day and night. Terrain on Rhea's night side is dimly lit by reflected light from Saturn.
The view looks toward the southern hemisphere on the moon's trailing side. North on Rhea (1,528 kilometers, or 949 miles across) is up.

The image was taken in visible green light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on May 22, 2006 at a distance of approximately 263,000 kilometers (164,000 miles) from Rhea and at a Sun-Rhea-spacecraft, or phase, angle of 138 degrees. Image scale is 2 kilometers (about 1 mile) 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 .

Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute

Source: NASA/JPL - Cassini

New Moon
June 28, 2006

This magnified view shows tiny Polydeuces, a moon that was discovered by the Cassini spacecraft and is a mere 3 kilometers (2 miles) across. Along with much larger Helene (32 kilometers, or 20 miles across), Polydeuces orbits Saturn at the same distance as large, icy Dione (1,126 kilometers, or 700 miles across).
Because this body was only recently discovered and is so small, scientists presently know precious little about it. Further observations by Cassini may yield additional insights about its nature and composition.

The image was taken with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on May 22, 2006 at a distance of approximately 73,000 kilometers (45,000 miles) from Polydeuces and at a Sun-Polydeuces-spacecraft, or phase, angle of 41 degrees. The image was obtained using a spectral filter sensitive to wavelengths of infrared light centered at 752 nanometers. Scale in the original image was 434 meters (1,423 feet) per pixel. The image has been magnified by a factor of four and contrast-enhanced to aid visibility.

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 .

Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute

Source: NASA/JPL - Cassini

Stirred-up Saturn
June 29, 2006

A great vortex rolls through high southern latitudes on Saturn, whirling twisted contours into the clouds. The ringed planet's uppermost clouds are thought to be composed largely of ammonia ice overlying deeper layers of ammonium hydrosulfide and water clouds.
The image was taken with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on May 13, 2006 at a distance of approximately 2.8 million kilometers (1.8 million miles) from Saturn and at a Sun-Saturn-spacecraft, or phase, angle of 143 degrees. The image was obtained using a spectral filter sensitive to wavelengths of infrared light centered at 938 nanometers. Image scale is 17 kilometers (10 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 .

Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute

Source: NASA/JPL - Cassini

Clues in the Clouds
July 3, 2006

Cassini images of Saturn's dynamic atmosphere, like this detailed view, will be combined with data from the spacecraft's two infrared-sensing instruments (the Visible and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer and the Composite Infrared Spectrometer) to measure correlations among cloud features at many altitudes and infer heat flow across the planet.
The numerous small, white blobs generally indicate disturbed and turbulent regions.

The image was taken with the Cassini spacecraft wide-angle camera on May 22, 2006 at a distance of approximately 331,000 kilometers (206,000 miles) from Saturn. The image was obtained using a spectral filter sensitive to wavelengths of infrared light centered at 752 nanometers. Image scale is 16 kilometers (10 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 .

Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute

Source: NASA/JPL - Cassini

Nice pics. Thanks for sharing them.

The Golden Giant
July 4, 2006

Cassini takes in a wide-angle view of majestic, golden-hued Saturn ... home to our robotic spacecraft for two years now. The ringplane cuts across the center of Saturn's crescent which wears shadows cast by the icy rings.
The planet's now familiar blue and pink hues generally are more subtle in high-phase views from the Cassini wide-angle camera. "Phase" refers to the angle formed between the Sun, the planet and the spacecraft.

The view is a composite of two sets of color images taken using red, green and blue spectral filters. The images were combined to create a color view that approximates the scene as it might appear to human eyes.

The images were taken with the Cassini spacecraft wide-angle camera on May 24, 2006 at a distance of approximately 1.3 million kilometers (824,000 miles) from Saturn and at a Sun-Saturn-spacecraft, or phase, angle of 139 degrees. Image scale is 76 kilometers (47 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 .

Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute

Source: NASA/JPL - Cassini

Letting you know well done cause after seeing these and other images you have posted i have started looking at the sky more often and reading books and other websites on astronomy.
Is there any you can recommend?

Any book by Terrence Dickerson is good....

Thanks for that jesspy

Astronomy.com and Sky and Telescope are both good sites, especially for the latest news, although to get all the features you need to buy their magazines (both of which I would recommend). If I remember correctly the Sky and Telescope site has excellent links to other sites.

Astronomy Today also looks quite promising, but I haven't got around to fully exploring it yet.

One problem you mat face is that a lot of sites tend to be aimed at Northern Hemisphere observers, so the star maps aren't a lot of use to you down under. It might be worth you finding out if you have a local astronomy society.

Australian Astronomy has sections for amateurs and professionals, and in the amateur section has a list of Australian societies

I hope this has been of some help.

Or Patrick Moore.

Mimas Seeking Solitude
July 6, 2006

Cassini looked toward the night side of Saturn to spy the darkened orb of Mimas barely visible here near the center of the image hugging the planet's shadow. To the left of Mimas are several bright features in the faint D ring.
The innermost of Saturn's medium-sized icy moons, Mimas, is 397 kilometers (247 miles) across.

The image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on June 7, 2006 at a distance of approximately 3.9 million kilometers (2.4 million miles) from Mimas and 4 million kilometers (2.5 million miles) from Saturn. The Sun-Mimas-spacecraft, or phase, angle is 161 degrees. Image scale is 24 kilometers (15 miles) per pixel on Saturn.

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 .

Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute

Source: NASA/JPL - Cassini

Sky and Telescope is a great magazine....a bit pricy...No harm in checking out the issues at your library.

The Moons Are the Stars
July 7, 2006

The real jewels of Saturn are arguably its stunning collection of icy moons. Seen here with the unlit side of the rings are Titan (5,150 kilometers, or 3,200 miles across at right), Tethys (1,071 kilometers, or 665 miles across at left) and Enceladus (505 kilometers, or 314 miles across at center) with its fountain-like geysers.
The faint, vertical banding in the image is due to "noise" in the spacecraft electronics. This noise is difficult to remove from an image that has a very wide dynamic range--i.e., a wide range of brightness levels--as in the difference between gleaming Titan and the faint plumes of Enceladus.

Additionally, a reflection of Titan's light within the camera optics is likely responsible for the faint secondary image of Titan's limb to the left of the giant moon.

The image was taken in visible green light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on June 10, 2006 at a distance of approximately 3.9 million kilometers (2.4 million miles) from Enceladus, 5.3 million kilometers (3.3 million miles) from Titan and 4.4 million kilometers (2.7 million miles) from Tethys. The Sun-Enceladus-spacecraft, or phase, angle is 160 degrees on Enceladus. Image scale is 23 kilometers (14 miles) per pixel on Enceladus, 32 kilometers (20 miles) per pixel on Titan and 26 kilometers (16 miles) per pixel on Tethys.

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 .

Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute

Source: NASA/JPL - Cassini

It has thanks

Softly Glowing Scene
July 10, 2006

Enceladus blasts its icy spray into space in this unlit-side ring view that also features a tiny sliver of Rhea.
The south polar region of Rhea (1,528 kilometers, or 949 miles across) peeks out from beneath the rings to the right of Enceladus (505 kilometers, or 314 miles across).

The image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on June 9, 2006 at a distance of approximately 3.9 million kilometers (2.4 million miles) from Enceladus and 4.6 million kilometers (2.9 million miles) from Rhea. The Sun-Enceladus-spacecraft, or phase, angle is 161 degrees. Image scale is 23 kilometers (14 miles) per pixel on Enceladus.

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 .

Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute

Source: NASA/JPL - Cassini

A Captivating Vision
July 11, 2006

Cassini captured this arresting view of Saturn just before Epimetheus crossed into the blinding glare of the planet's sunlit crescent and was lost.
As it orbits Saturn, Epimetheus (116 kilometers, or 72 miles across) hugs the outside edge of the narrow F ring, beyond the orbit of Pandora. The F ring is the brightest ring feature seen here. Saturn's southern hemisphere is softly lit by sunlight reflected off the rings.

A less obvious feature in this view is the planet's shadow, which begins to darken the inner regions of the rings at left. The image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on June 9, 2006 at a distance of approximately 4 million kilometers (2.5 million miles) from Epimetheus and 4.1 million kilometers (2.5 million miles) from Saturn. The Sun-Epimetheus-spacecraft, or phase, angle is 161 degrees. Image scale is 25 kilometers (16 miles) per pixel on Saturn.

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 .

Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute

Source: NASA/JPL - Cassini

Rings Occulting Titan
July 11, 2006

Titan shines beyond the rings like a brilliant ring of fire, its light gleaming here and there through the gaps in Saturn's magnificent plane of ice.
Titan (5,150 kilometers, or 3,200 miles across) is surrounded by a thick photochemical haze which scatters the Sun's light.

The image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on June 11, 2006 at a distance of approximately 5.3 million kilometers (3.3 million miles) from Titan and at a Sun-Titan-spacecraft, or phase, angle of 158 degrees. Image scale is 32 kilometers (20 miles) per pixel on Titan.

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 .

Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute

Source: NASA/JPL - Cassini