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Five Saturnian moons are clustered around the giant planet's rings in this amazing view from the Cassini orbiter, captured on July 29 from a vantage point just above the ring plane. Rhea, which is poking in from the far right side of the frame, is the moon closest to the camera, at a distance of 684,000 miles (1.1 million kilometers). That moon is 949 miles (1,528 kilometers) across. The smaller moon Mimas looks as if it's edging up right beside Rhea, but it's actually more than 400,000 miles farther away. The bright moon Enceladus, which spouts geysers of water ice, shines above and beyond Saturn's rings.
Fifty-mile-wide Pandora, a shepherd moon and the smallest of the five satellites seen in this picture, is nestled within Saturn's rings, between the A ring and the thin F ring near the middle of the image. The irregular moon Janus is at far left. These five are just a small part of Saturn's huge chorus of 62 known moons.
The bus-sized Cassini probe was launched back in 1997 and has been sending pictures back from Saturn and its moons since 2004, but it's still going strong. For more from the Cassini mission, check out the imaging team's home page, NASA's Cassini website and our own slideshow of the mission's greatest hits. Here's a little bit extra about each of the moons seen in this picture:
- Oxygen-rich atmosphere found on Rhea
- Mimas pictures show the 'Death Star' in detail
- Enceladus' 'rain' creates water on Saturn
- Can you spot Pandora in this picture?
- Janus shows its scars
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Leave a Comment:
Cassini rocks!
Saturn's largest moon - Titan - is not only substantially larger than our own Moon, it is even larger than the planet Mercury!
To give some sense of scale in the image above, the distance from one side of the rings to the other is about the same as the distance between the Earth and the Moon. Of course - you then need to add a giant Saturn in that gap, too! Saturn is so big that you could fit 833 Earths inside of it.
Earth is such a wee little planet (but so cute!) compared to the Big Boys.
It's a way cool pic. Are you watching the moon and Jupiter this week Michael ? They should pass close Wed. or Thurs.
I'll sneak a peek! ;-p
Michael, that article says that Mimas is about 400,000 miles further away than Rhea in the picture. That's enough room to fit Saturn and it's rings between Mimas and Rhea isn't it? The picture kinda makes the rings of Saturn look like they are millions of miles in diameter.
I'll second that motion!
Breathtaking, words fail me.
WOW. This picture is breathtaking. It almost looks like it was staged for the camera. Good job Cassini and crew (on the ground of course). Keep it going NASA.
THIS is why I love nasa/science/astronomy!!! GO CASSINI!!! (Hiya Mikey!!)
Top of the mornin' to ya Stephen!
:)
Awesome picture, and one that we never see unless we have a camera up there.
Imagine the sights yet to come... it will be the stuff dreams are made of!
No, that was the Maltese Falcon. But it will be pretty cool.
All of those moons are just waiting to be colonized. When will humanity wake up and realize that it can be done and rather cheaply?
Everything that humanity needs to colonize the Saturian Moon's is right there before them. It doesn't take a brain surgeon or genesis to figure it out.
Cheaply? Please do elaborate.
Let's get a permanent colony on our own moon before we start looking to Saturn's. We could learn a thing or two on Luna.
And no strings! Just spinin' and floatin'. I love space.
I think he's talking about the Genesis Device from Wrath of Kahn!
It doesn't take a brain surgeon or "genesis" to colonize the moons, dwighthuth??? huh... I am figuring you mean genius... I guess I will take your comment with a grain of salt, and just enjoy the great pictures of the moons from Cassini.
Just lovely. The picture also makes either something or a group of somethings in Saturn's rings look moon sized.
Are you referring to Pandora? (the blob-looking-thing in the outer set of rings in the picture)
Since they are all "moons", they are all "moon sized".
.