It’s a stunning image of the rings of Saturn – with an unexpected photobomb.
The latest images from the now-dead Cassini spacecraft released by NASA have revealed an unexpected peek at its smallest moon.
Saturn’s tiny moon Pan, about 17 miles (28 kilometers) across, is seen between its icy rings.
Saturn’s tiny moon Pan, about 17 miles (28 kilometers) across, orbits within the Encke Gap in the A ring. Beyond, we can see the arc of Saturn itself, its cloud tops streaked with dark shadows cast by the rings.
Saturn’s tiny moon Pan, about 17 miles (28 kilometers) across, orbits within the Encke Gap in the A ring.
Beyond, we can see the arc of Saturn itself, its cloud tops streaked with dark shadows cast by the rings.
This image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on Feb. 12, 2016, at a distance of approximately 746,000 miles (1.2 million kilometers) from Pan.
Pan, the innermost of Saturn’s known moons, has a mean radius of 8.8 miles (14.1 km) and orbits 83,000 miles (134,000 km) away from Saturn, within the Encke Gap of Saturn’s A-ring.
Like Saturn’s moon Atlas, it has a prominent equatorial ridge that gives it a distinctive flying saucer shape.
As it orbits Saturn every 13.8 hours, it acts as a shepherd moon and is responsible for keeping the Encke Gap open.
The gap is a 200 mile (325 km) opening in Saturn’s A ring.
Pan creates stripes, called ‘wakes,’ in the ring material on either side of it.
Since ring particles closer to Saturn than Pan move faster in their orbits, these particles pass the moon and receive a gravitational ‘kick’ from Pan as they do.
The Cassini spacecraft ended its mission on Sept. 15, 2017.
The Cassini mission is a cooperative project of NASA, ESA (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. 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, Colorado.
It is a stunning, almost ghostly view of Saturn’s moon.
NASA has revealed the incredible image, taken by the Cassini probe before it crashed into Saturn’s atmosphere in a ‘death dive’.
Although the probe has now been destroyed, NASA is still regularly releasing images from its mission.
The new image shows Saturn’s moon Enceladus drifting before the rings, which glow brightly in the sunlight.Just visible at the moon’s south pole (at bottom here) is the plume of water ice particles and other material that constantly spews from that ocean via fractures in the ice.
‘Saturn’s moon Enceladus drifts before the rings, which glow brightly in the sunlight,’ NASA said.
Beneath its icy exterior shell, Enceladus hides a global ocean of liquid water, and many believe the planet could even hold life it its vast ocean.
Just visible at the moon’s south pole (at bottom here) is the plume of water ice particles and other material that constantly spews from that ocean via fractures in the ice.
The bright speck to the right of Enceladus is a distant star.
This image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on Nov. 6, 2011, at a distance of approximately 90,000 miles (145,000 kilometers) from Enceladus.
The Cassini spacecraft ended its mission on Sept. 15, 2017.
The Cassini spacecraft ended its mission on Sept. 15, 2017, and NASA has been releasing images from it regularly.
Last month it revealed a stunning compilation of ‘death shots’ taken just before the probe crashed into Saturn.
‘The brightly lit limb of a crescent Enceladus looks ethereal against the blackness of space,’ NASA says of one the most impressive images.
‘The rest of the moon, lit by light reflected from Saturn, presents a ghostly appearance.’
NASA has revealed the incredible image, taken by the Cassini probe before it crashed into Saturn’s atmosphere in a ‘death dive’. Enceladus (313 miles or 504 kilometers across) is back-lit in this image, as is apparent by the thin crescent.
Enceladus (313 miles or 504 kilometers across) is back-lit in this image, as is apparent by the thin crescent.
However, the Sun-Enceladus-spacecraft (or phase) angle, at 141 degrees, is too low to make the moon’s famous plumes easily visible.
This view looks toward the Saturn-facing hemisphere of Enceladus.
The above image is a composite of images taken with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on March 29, 2017, using filters that allow infrared, green, and ultraviolet light.
HOW ENCELADUS IS HEATED FROM WITHIN
Researchers have spotted plumes from the moon’s vast underground ocean
According to Dr Postberg, the rock core of Enceladus is probably porous, which is why the water from the overlying ocean is able to deeply permeate it.
At the same time, strong tidal forces from Saturn affect the ‘loose’ rock in the moon’s core.
The new computer simulations show that the frictional heat is transferred very efficiently to the water circulating through the core, heating it to more than 90 degrees Celsius.
This water dissolves some constituents of the rocky material.
At certain hotspots, the hydrothermal fluids vent back into the ocean.
Due to the cooling dissolved material now partially precipitates as fine particles, which are carried by the warm water to the ocean’s surface.
The hotspots are located primarily at the poles of Enceladus.
The ascending hydrothermal fluids probably trigger local melting in the ice layer of the polar region.
According to Dr Postberg, this explains why the ice layer at the poles is considerably thinner than at the equator – three to ten kilometres versus 35 kilometres.
The view was obtained at a distance of approximately 110,000 miles (180,000 kilometers) from Enceladus. Image scale is 0.6 miles (1 kilometer) per pixel.
More than a week after its dramatic ‘death dive’ into Saturn’s atmosphere, NASA has released Cassini’s final images, revealing stunning last looks at the ringed planet and its mysterious moons.
From a view of Enceladus setting behind Saturn, to the site where Cassini would make its impact, the new images show just what the spacecraft observed leading up to its demise.
Cassini circled the planet for 13 years, helping to transform our understanding of the gas giant – and, thanks to its observations, scientists now know two of its moons have potential to host simple life.
From a view of Enceladus setting behind Saturn, to the site where Cassini would make its impact, the new images show just what the spacecraft observed leading up to its demise. Its last image, pictured, is a monochrome look toward Saturn’s night side, light by sunlight reflected from the planet’s rings
In the breathtaking series of photos, NASA shows some of Cassini’s final observations.
Its last image, the space agency reveals, is a monochrome look toward Saturn’s night side, light by sunlight reflected from the planet’s rings.
There, Cassini entered Saturn’s atmosphere just hours later, to embark on its mission-ending plunge.
The spacecraft also captured detailed images of Saturn’s rings, even revealing a look at the small moon Daphnis and the waves it causes in the Keeler Gap.
In photo, a lone ‘propeller’ can be seen.
Space enthusiast Jason Major used some of Cassini’s final images to stitch together a stunning composite of Saturn (pictured) as Cassini began its final dive toward the planet
The spacecraft also captured detailed images of Saturn’s rings, even revealing a look at the small moon Daphnis and the waves it causes in the Keeler Gap, as seen above. The image was captured on September 13
These are the features created by small moonlets in the rings, as they attempt to open gaps in the ring material, according to NASA.
Space enthusiast Jason Major used some of Cassini’s final images to stitch together a stunning composite of Saturn as Cassini began its final dive toward the planet.
‘Here’s a mosaic of Saturn made from raw images acquired by Cassini on Sept. 13, 2017, as it was on its way toward its dive into the planet’s atmosphere,’ he said in a post on Flickr.
‘These images are uncalibrated for color but were acquired in visible-light RGB filters.’
A week after its dramatic ‘death dive’ into Saturn’s atmosphere, NASA has released Cassini’s final images, revealing stunning last looks at the ringed planet and its mysterious moons. Its last look at the giant moon Titan, on Sept 13, is shown
Cassini circled the planet for 13 years, helping to transform our understanding of the gas giant – and, thanks to its observations, scientists now know two of its moons have potential to host simple life. One of these is the icy moon Enceladus, seen setting behind Saturn in the image above
The Cassini spacecraft may be gone, but the remarkable observations gathered over the craft’s 13-year mission will continue to reveal new insights on Saturn and the mysterious worlds orbiting it for some time to come.
Just days after the dramatic conclusion to the craft’s mission, NASA released a stunning Cassini observation of the planet’s ‘yin-and-yang moon,’ Iapetus.
The photo is one of Cassini’s last looks at the 914-mile-wide moon, revealing the striking dichotomy of its surface, long known to be bright on one side and dark on the other.
The strange moon is Saturn’s third-largest satellite.
In photo, a lone ‘propeller’ can be seen (pictured) These are the features created by small moonlets in the rings, as they attempt to open gaps in the ring material, according to NASA
This false-color ‘farewell’ view combines individual frames captured with filters sensitive to ultraviolet, green, and infrared light, according to NASA, and looks toward the Saturn-facing hemisphere of Iapetus.
For centuries, scientists have questioned Iapetus’ unusual ‘yin-yang’ appearance.
But, thanks to Cassini, they may have solved the mystery of its contrasted surface.
‘Cassini observations of Iapetus support the prevailing theory that led to the understanding that the dichotomy of the surface is due to a combination of infalling dust from outside of the moon followed by a migration of water ice from the darker (therefore warmer) areas to the cold, brighter surfaces,’ NASA explains.
In the breathtaking series of photos, NASA shows some of Cassini’s final observations. This photo, captured on Sept 13, shows a stunning look at Saturn’s rings
Cassini captured this last look at Iapetus on May 30, from roughly 1.5 million miles away.
NASA’s Cassini mission came to a ‘bittersweet’ conclusion early Friday morning, as the historic spacecraft plunged into Saturn’s atmosphere to become one with the gas giant planet it had studied for 13 years.
As mission scientists said their farewells to the craft and prepare to examine its final observations, footage emerged of the dramatic moment Cassini first lifted off 20 years ago, to embark on its ‘billion mile trek to Saturn.’
The breathtaking footage takes us back to the Cape Canaveral launchpad on October 15, 1997, as mission control counts down to the start of a journey that brought an ‘incredible wealth of discoveries.’
Just days after the dramatic conclusion to the craft’s mission, NASA has released a stunning new observation of the planet’s ‘yin-and-yang moon,’ Iapetus. For centuries, scientists have questioned Iapetus’ unusual ‘yin-yang’ appearance. But, thanks to Cassini, they may have solved the mystery of its contrasted surface
As mission scientists say their farewells to the craft and prepare to examine its final observations, footage has emerged of the dramatic moment Cassini first lifted off 20 years ago, to embark on its ‘billion mile trek to Saturn’
Cassini launched in 1997 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, bringing it past Venus (twice), Earth, and Jupiter on its way to Saturn.
But, it would be many years – and a billion miles – before it reached its target.
‘We have cleared the tower, and the Cassini spacecraft is on its way to Saturn,’ mission control can be heard saying in the 20-year-old footage, as the rocket breaks through the clouds.
The spacecraft arrived to Saturn in 2004, marking the start of its historic 13-year mission studying the planet and its moons.
‘This is the final chapter of an amazing mission, but it’s also a new beginning,’ Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington, said as the space agency marked the end of Cassini’s mission.
‘Cassini’s discovery of ocean worlds at Titan and Enceladus changed everything, shaking our views to the core about surprising places to search for potential life beyond Earth.’
After 20 years in space, Cassini spacecraft finally completed its suicide mission at 7:56 a.m. (ET) Friday, plunging into Saturn’s atmosphere.
While we were unable to see Cassini’s dying moments, an animation released by NASA reconstructs the probe’s last few minutes as it tumbled through Saturn’s atmosphere at 77,000mph
Cassini launched in 1997 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, bringing it past Venus (twice), Earth, and Jupiter on its way to Saturn. But, it would be many years – and a billion miles – before it reached its target
‘We have cleared the tower, and the Cassini spacecraft is on its way to Saturn,’ mission control can be heard saying in the 20-year-old footage, as the rocket breaks through the clouds
‘The Cassini operations team did an absolutely stellar job guiding the spacecraft to its noble end,’ said Earl Maize, Cassini project manager at JPL.
‘From designing the trajectory seven years ago, to navigating through the 22 nail-biting plunges between Saturn and its rings, this is a crack shot group of scientists and engineers that scripted a fitting end to a great mission.
‘What a way to go. Truly a blaze of glory.’
The confirmation of the mission was received at Nasa’s Jet Propulsion unit at 07:56 EST (12:56 BST).
Upon receiving the news, Earl Maize, program manager for Cassini, announced: ‘The signal from the spacecraft has gone. Congratulations, this has been an incredible mission and incredible spacecraft.’
After 20 years in space, Nasa’s Cassini spacecraft has finally completed its suicide mission, plunging into Saturn’s atmosphere. The confirmation of the mission was received at Nasa’s Jet Propulsion unit at 07:56 EST (12:56 BST)
In its thirteen years at Saturn and two decades in space, the $4 billion (£3 billion) Cassini probe has transformed our understanding of the ringed planet and its moons.
It has watched giant storms on the gas giant, recorded its ring system in stunning detail, and revealed incredible new insights on the potential habitability of Saturn’s moons.
The decision to kill off Cassini was taken because the craft would soon run out of fuel and become impossible to steer. Scientists feared a collision with Titan or Enceladus – two of Saturn’s moons that in the past 10 years have shown a potential to host simple life.
Nasa’s animation imagine what the ‘death dive’ would have looked like
First, they expect the probe to have shed layers of insulating material.
Nasa’s animation imagines what the ‘death dive’ would have looked like. First, they expect the probe to have shed layers of insulating material
Saturn’s active, ocean-bearing moon Enceladus sinks behind the giant planet in a farewell animation from NASA’s Cassini spacecraft
Then its large external structures, including the 11ft wide dish antenna and 30ft long magnetometer boom will have weakened and broken apart, followed by other body-mounted components, and eventually the leading face of the space craft itself.
It is also possible that propellant left in Cassini’s fuel tanks may have exploded.
Meanwhile, atmospheric friction will have sent temperatures soaring.
By the time what was left of Cassini reached the cloud tops it would have been transformed into a glowing fragmenting meteor, hotter than the surface of the sun.
Project manager Earl Maize, centre, shakes hands with Bill Heventhal (left) head of Uplink Operations in mission control at Nasa’s Jet Propulsion Lab
Finally, intense heat and pressure would have caused every part of the space craft to melt and dissociate, scattering its atoms to the winds of Saturn.
Cassini’s death plunge was the climax of a ‘grand finale’ that saw the probe slip between Saturn and its rings in 22 daring orbits.
Fifteen minutes before the end, the voice of Dr Maize could be heard in a live stream from mission control telling his team: ‘This might be a good time to pass out the farewell peanuts.’
Earlier Jet Propulsion Laboratory director Mike Watkins told a Nasa interviewer: ‘It’s kind of a bitter-sweet event for all of us.
‘For me personally, it’s more sweet than bitter, because Cassini has been such a fantastic mission.
During the live feed, experts from Nasa described the event as ‘the last hour of the last chapter of Cassini’s Grand Finale.’
Cassini science team members Nora Alonge (R), Scott Edgington (C) and Jo Pitesky (L) hug as the final loss of signal from the Cassini spacecraft is confirmed