Nasa’s Cassini space probe is approaching its final orbit between Saturn and its rings before its fiery plunge into the gassy planet.
The craft is now undertaking the last of its so-called ‘Grand Finale’ orbits, each bringing the probe closer to its long-awaited death dive.
Cassini’s last orbit begins this week on Saturday September 9, with the craft finally ending its historic 13-year mission six days later with a dive directly into Saturn’s atmosphere.
Cassini’s last orbit begins this week on September 9, with the craft finally ending its historic 13-year mission six days later with a dive directly into Saturn. On September 14, the probe will take its final images of Saturn, snapping images of the gas giant’s hexagon-shaped vortex at its north pole as well as its moons Titan and Enceladus
Saturday’s orbit will send the craft through the outermost layers of the planet’s atmosphere, passing just 1,680 kilometres (1,043 miles) above the clouds.
Two days later Cassini will make a final, 119,049-kilometre (73,973-mile) flyby of Saturn’s largest moon Titan, causing the craft to slow down and re-position its orbit for its death dive.
On September 14, the probe will take its final images of Saturn, snapping images of the gas giant’s hexagon-shaped vortex at its north pole as well as its moons Titan and Enceladus.
The probe will then turn its antennae toward Earth, transmitting data until the final moment before it burns up as it heads straight into the gas giant’s crushing atmosphere on September 15.
Cassini’s final dive will end a mission that provided groundbreaking discoveries that included seasonal changes on Saturn, the moon Titan’s resemblance to a primordial Earth, and a global ocean on the moon Enceladus with ice plumes spouting from its surface.
‘The mission has been insanely, wildly, beautifully successful, and it’s coming to an end in about two weeks,’ Dr Curt Niebur, Cassini program scientist, said on a telephone conference call with reporters last week.
Cassini’s final photo as it heads into Saturn’s atmosphere will likely be of propellers, or gaps in the rings caused by moonlets, said project scientist Dr Linda Spilker.
Cassini has been probing Saturn, the sixth planet from the sun, and its entourage of 62 known moons since July 2004, providing enough data for almost 4,000 scientific papers. Pictured are the number of orbits and flybys the craft has performed over the past 13 years of research
The spacecraft will provide near real-time data on the atmosphere until it loses contact with Earth at 7:54 am ET (12:54 am BST) on September 15, Nasa said.
Dr Spilker said Cassini’s latest data on the rings had shown they had a lighter mass than forecast.
That suggests they are younger than expected, at about 120 million years, and thus were created after the birth of the solar system, she said.
During its final orbits between the atmosphere and the rings, Cassini also studied Saturn’s atmosphere and took measurements to determine the size of the planet’s rocky core.
Last week, Nasa shared a stunning new view of Saturn’s turbulent clouds, captured the day Cassini first began its Grand Finale. The breathtaking photo shows the swirling clouds ‘on top of the world’ at the ringed planet just weeks before Saturn’s northern summer solstice – a period soon to be followed by years of darkness
Cassini has been probing Saturn, the sixth planet from the sun, and its entourage of 62 known moons since July 2004, providing enough data for almost 4,000 scientific papers.
Since the craft is running low on fuel, Nasa is crashing it into Saturn to avoid any chance Cassini could someday collide with Titan, Enceladus or any other moon that has the potential to support indigenous microbial life.
By destroying the spacecraft, Nasa will ensure that any hitchhiking Earth microbes still alive on Cassini will not contaminate the moons for future study.
Last week, Nasa shared a stunning new view of Saturn’s turbulent clouds, captured the day Cassini first began its Grand Finale.
The breathtaking photo shows the swirling clouds ‘on top of the world’ at the ringed planet just weeks before Saturn’s northern summer solstice – a period soon to be followed by years of darkness.
Cassini began the first of its final five orbits mid-August, bringing it closer to Saturn than ever before.
Images from its August 20 dive now offer a mesmerising ‘inside out’ perspective from the gap between the planet and its rings.
In a strikingly dynamic photo captured on April 26, 2017 – the day it approached Saturn for its first dive – Cassini observed the planet’s north pole as it remained bathed in sunlight, from about 166,000 miles away.
But soon, the region will be enveloped in darkness.
‘Although the pole is still bathed in sunlight at present, northern summer solstice on Saturn occurred on May 24, 2017, bringing the maximum solar illumination to the north polar region,’ Nasa said.
Cassini began the first of its final five orbits mid-August, bringing it closer to Saturn than ever before. And, images from its August 20 dive now offer a mesmerizing ‘inside out’ perspective, shown above, from the gap between the planet and its rings
In a movie stitching together 21 images taken with Cassini’s wide-angle camera, NASA reveals a look at the entirety of the main rings. The images were taken over a period of roughly four minutes on August 20, 2017
Nasa’s Cassini space probe (artist’s impression) is approaching its final orbit between Saturn and its rings before its fiery plunge into the gassy planet. The craft is now undertaking the last of its so-called ‘Grand Finale’ orbits, each bringing the craft closer to its long-awaited death dive
‘Now the sun begins its slow descent in the northern sky, which eventually will plunge the north pole into Earth-years of darkness.
‘Cassini’s long mission at Saturn enabled the spacecraft to see the Sun rise over the north, revealing that region in great detail for the first time.’
A series of images captured months after its Grand Finale began shows a different perspective of the planet, with an ‘inside view’ from the gap between Saturn and its rings.
In a movie stitching together 21 images taken with Cassini’s wide-angle camera, NASA reveals a look at the entirety of the main rings.
The images were taken over a period of roughly four minutes on August 20, 2017.
It’s one of 53 named moons known to be circling Saturn, but this stunning Cassini image shows that the icy moon Tethys appears to be the planet’s only companion, bathed in ‘Saturnshine.’ In this view, Cassini is roughly 930,000 miles (1.5 million kilometers) from Tethys
‘The entirety of the main rings can be seen here, but due to the low viewing angle, the rings appear extremely foreshortened,’ Nasa said.
‘The perspective shifts from the sunlit side of the rings to the unlit side, where sunlight filters through.
‘On the sunlit side, the grayish C ring looks larger in the foreground because it is closer; beyond it is the brightest B ring and slightly less-bright A ring, with the Cassini Division between them.
‘The F ring is also fairly easy to make out.’
A stunning Cassini view of Saturn revealed waves of clouds swirling above the planet, like ‘strokes form a cosmic brush.’ The image, captured by the Cassini spacecraft from roughly 750,000 miles (1.2 million kilometers) above the surface, shows the turbulent essence of Saturn’s clouds, which move as bands in different speeds and directions
During Cassini’s journey around Saturn, it has captured unprecedented views of the ringed planet.
But, it’s also revealed critical new insight on its many mysterious moons.
It’s one of 53 named moons known to be circling Saturn – but, in a stunning image shared recently by Nasa, the icy moon Tethys appears to be the planet’s only companion, bathed in ‘Saturnshine.’
The image, captured by the Cassini spacecraft at roughly 750,000 miles (1.2 million kilometers) from Saturn, shows the mid-sized moon illuminated by sunlight reflected off the ringed planet, bringing its night side into full view.
Just days into its Grand Finale mission phase, Nasa’s Cassini spacecraft has sent back stunning images of Saturn’s largest moon, Titan. Titan’s surface can be seen in incredible detail, as well as the moon’s ever-changing atmosphere
By destroying the spacecraft, Nasa will ensure that any hitchhiking Earth microbes still alive on Cassini will not contaminate the moons for future study
The view of Tethys was captured in visible light by Cassini’s wide-angle camera on May 13, 2017.
Sitting roughly 930,000 miles (1.5 million kilometers) from the spacecraft at the time the photo was taken, Tethys is just a speck in the dark sky far beyond the massive figure of Saturn and its rings.
But, thanks to sunlight bouncing off Saturn, Cassini was able to view the moon from its night side.
‘Tethys was on the far side of Saturn with respect to Cassini here; an observer looking upward from the moon’s surface toward Cassini would see Saturn’s illuminated disk filling the sky,’ Nasa said.
‘Tethys was brightened by a factor of two in this image to increase its visibility. A sliver of the moon’s sunlit northern hemisphere is seen at top.
‘A bright wedge of Saturn’s sunlit side is seen at lower left.’