Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Equinox: close-up of planet's rings

Saturn Equinox and Planet's Rings

  • CICLOPS (Cassini Imaging Lab) Space Science Institute
BOULDER, Colorado (9/21/09) - In a rare and breathtaking display of nature, the setting of the sun on Saturn's rings, called equinox, has been captured in a series of striking Cassini images, uncovering a hidden dimension to this fabled disk of icy debris or "ring."
At the exact moment of equinox, which occurs twice every Saturn year (or once every 14.8 Earth years), the sun is directly overhead at the equator and illuminating the rings directly edge-on. More>>