Bic Pic: Saturn's Rings In Infrared
Saturn Close-Up NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute Every pixel in this picture represents 37 miles. Why, hello there, Saturn. Those rings are looking pretty sharp this morning. NASA's Cassini spacecraft snapped this near-infrared image of the sixth planet on June 15. You're seeing the planet from its sunlit side, from about 657,000 miles (1.1 million kilometers) away. When Saturn is closest to Earth, it is about 746 million miles (1.2 billion kilometers) away. Every pixel in this picture represents 37 miles. Cassini has captured several impressive images in its lifetime. Previously, it caught sight of an enormous, years-old hurricane at Saturn's north pole. It's also seen a huge river of hydrocarbons on the surface of Titan. Recent data from the mission suggests that another one of Saturn's moons, Dione, could have an underground ocean. Astronomers had previously found that the Saturnian moons Enceladus and Titan may have water. [NASA]