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NASA / JPL-Caltech / SSI
Saturn's rings stretch in front of the moons Titan and Tethys in a Dec. 7 image captured by NASA's Cassini orbiter.
What do you get when you cross the rings and moons of Saturn? That sounds like the set-up for a joke, but for the team that processes the pictures from NASA's Cassini orbiter, the answer is totally serious: You get stunning images of the moons' interplay with the giant planet's rings.
The picture above, released today, shows Saturn's rings nearly edge-on, in front of the moons Titan (left) and Tethys (right). Cassini's narrow-angle camera captured the view on Dec. 7, 2011, as it was flying by a distance of about 1.4 million miles from icy Tethys (TEETH-iss) and 1.9 million miles from smog-covered Titan.
Last week the Cassini imaging team released another stunner snapped on the same day, showing tiny Tethys (660 miles wide) near the center of Saturn's disk, just below the ring plane.
Cassini was so close to Saturn's equator that the rings look like little more than a straight line, but you can see the delicate shadows of the rings stretching across the planet's sunlit disk into darkness. When Cassini's wide-angle camera took this picture, Tethys was about 1.1 million miles away.
Saturn, with a diameter of 74,900 miles, overwhelms Tethys in size. But the gas giant's density is such that it could float in water — that is, if there were a body of water big enough for it to float in. Does that mean Saturn could take a bath? Yes ... but it might leave a ring.
NASA / JPL-Caltech / SSI
The Saturnian moon Tethys is dwarfed by the ringed planet's disk in this Dec. 7 picture from the Cassini orbiter.
More imagery from Cassini and other space probes:
- Holiday goodies from deep space
- Saturnian storm goes wild
- Greatest hits from Cassini
- Year in Space Pictures 2011
Alan Boyle is msnbc.com's science editor. Connect with the Cosmic Log community by "liking" the log's Facebook page, following @b0yle on Twitter or adding the Cosmic Log Google+ page to your circles. You can also check out "The Case for Pluto," my book about the controversial dwarf planet and the search for other worlds.
Leave a Comment:
Mr Boyle,
Can you please use kilometers for distances and sizes, not miles. This is science (even more: this is astronomy), not a highway.
Alex,,, just do the conversion. Should be simple for you. Life is a highway.
This is America. If you want metric, go to a European or Canadian website.
Who cares if it's kilometers or miles? You should know and understand both systems.
What That'sF;inCrazy said. THIS is America, If you want metric, go to Europe
@ twin bros and That'sF'in cazy
if you paid attention in school you would know tha america is the only country that does not use the metric system...so tell why europe why not asia or africa...besides an educated person would know how to convert metric
And the British still mostly use their old Imperial System of measurements.
I wish we could put everybody on a ship for Saturn who really cares about the unit of measurement used. They could debate it the whole way there.
I think you should all go over to the "Choking on a Gnat" web-site and pick your nits there.
Miles, Kilometers, parsecs who cares?
The photography is astounding and requires no measurements to be appreciated.
Sheeeesh, guys, reach out there and grab a life.
To quote the immortal Bugs Bunny, "What a bunch a Maroons."
Thanks Alan.
Sir, I'm sure you recall when the U.S.Gov't. tried to get us Americans to learn how to convert and it failed miserably. Why? Because it's too difficult for many,many lazy people to comprehend and make the adaption. Anyway, beautiful still shots from Cassini.
I prefer all my measurements in buslengths. so how many petabuses is it?
I like Furlongs per fortnight. If you are into science you had better know all types of measurement. Science is world wide! GET IT TOGETHER!!!
Really cool pictures and brings out many questions
AlexG - lighten up. Once it gets into the millions it's all relative (unless you're planning a trip).
Good article as always, Mr. Boyle. Keep them coming.
Love the pictures! Better than an artist rendition. Only way it could be better would be High Definition color photos. This is the really interesting part of space and science.
Awesome pictures. Saturn is a beautiful planet.
i find it funny that when i was a kid and they were putting some of these telescopes and orbiters up they where saying it's a waste of money. But look at the pictures we get back and what we know and there is no pollution to block the view maybe some day our air will be that clean again ? but in the mean time great pictures
tommy, our air will never be clean again. the car you drove this morning assures that.
And of course we will be driving fossil fuel powered cars forever. Hey JohnSixty, remember the buggy whip! Fear not tommy-1549331, a day will come when emissions from politicians and volcanoes will be the primary sources of pollution on this planet.
Tommy, it is our atmosphere that distorts land based telescopes not pollution...now, back to school!
scott, are you a corporate revisionist?
I always wanted to know...how can there be planets of just gas? what's keeping all that gas together instead of just dissapating...is there something solid under all that gas with a mass sufficient to keep it all together?
Gravity. Gas is made up of normal matter.
The ability of useless gas to congregate in one location and stay there indefinitely has been noticed to take place in Washington DC as well.
Right-O dirp101, great observation. The gas in Washington does not require a telescope to be seen... or should I say be obscene.
'Gas Giant' planets are not just gas. (Though enough gas will hold itself together by gravity, as UDonnoBro noted. After all, that's what stars are) There are solid, rocky cores down in there somewhere. But the atmospheres may constitute the majority of the planet's total mass. Especially for Jupiter, and similar, even more massive worlds believed to orbit many other stars.
Some of them are in the 'brown dwarf' gray area between planets and stars, wherein heavy elements are a small fraction of the object's mass, and may even have temperatures and pressures in the core sufficient to fuse deuterium, the heavy isotope of hydrogen (until it runs out), but not enough to ignite the much more common, but harder to fuse 'light' hydrogen.
I remember back when Cassini was launched there were a bunch of nutjob protesters angry because the probe is nuclear powered. You'd think if someone didn't like radioactive material they would be happy that some of it was being permanently launched into space, but no, they were still upset about it!
I learned something today. I had always thought that Saturn's moons were outside the rings. I am obviously mistaken. Saturn always photographs well; such a beautiful planet.
For all of you arguing about miles vs kilometers, I have two words: "Lighten up"!!!
Pilot,
Most of Saturn's moons are outside the rings. The description of the first image is confusing. Titan and Tethys ARE outside the rings. You are looking clear across the ring plane to the two moons, which are on the far distant side of the rings. Saturn is off to the left somewhere.
@K.Kammeyer Thank you for the clarification. Greatly appreciated.
Damn cool photos!
just throwing my hat in on the units, but why not use AU ? i mean that's the astronomical unit, or even LD?
That would be a lot of LD's :) Unfortunately, a lot of readers don't know an AU from a LD. I do believe the author was following the "KISS" approach... Keep It Simple 'Sir'.
Wow. Very cool!
Looks as fake as the moon landing.
Great photos of Saturn. The Cassini probe has sent us some of the most outstanding astronomical photos I have seen that have not come from the Hubble space telescope.
I agree that the metric system should be used. I taught it to my science students in community college. When they said it was too hard, I asked them to convert 10 miles to yards in their head. When they couldn't do it, I asked them to convert 10 kilometers to meters in their head and they could do it. Metric is much easier when you get used to visualizing the distances.
I wonder if anyone knows. . . as these moons near the rings, does their gravity pick up material and do they then grow in mass and size? Will these inner-moons eventually gravitationally "vacuum up" most of the rings' particles? Do these moons leave any kind of wake when they pass thru?
Over time the moons will absorb the rings. Then the gravitational pull of the moons wil destablize their orbits, and they will collide. The collision will produce a moon with a mass greater than 1/2 of the combined moons. The remainding debris will become a new ring around saturn.
Great pictures! Cassini is one of the best things our race has built.
AlexG,,, did you figure it out yet?
Those are some really great pictures...
I couldn't help but notice that there was a bit of gripping and carrying on about the preferred unit of measure that should have been used for those that might want to know that information.
To be fair with every body (you know so that all sides have to do conversions) I think Alan should have used EU's and their equivalent Microns (for those that wanted a little more accuracy).
Those are some really great pictures...
I couldn't help but notice that there was a bit of gripping and carrying on about the preferred unit of measure that should have been used for those that might want to know that information.
To be fair with every body (you know so that all sides have to do conversions) I think Alan should have used EU's and their equivalent Microns (for those that wanted a little more accuracy).
First off those that read my entry above but decided to cut me some slack ...thank you, thank you, thank you... I meant AU's not EU's I must have finances on my mind... either that or I'm longing to visit again.
My cousin, the 80 something rocket scientist, was instrumental in the Cassini project. Everytime I see one of these incredible wonderful photos I get misty. Talk about a life well served.
Here's to all those visionary men and women who had a dream and saw it realized.