NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Saturn in Blue

Bands and spots in Saturn's atmosphere, including a dark band south of the equator with a scalloped border, are visible in this image from the Cassini-Huygens spacecraft. Cassini, due to arrive at Saturn on July 1, took this image in blue light on Feb. 29 from a distance of 59.9 million kilometers (37.2 million miles).

Three of Saturn's moons are seen in the full size image: Enceladus at left; Mimas, left of Saturn's south pole; and Rhea, at lower right.

In this image, everything on the planet is a cloud, and the contrast between bright and dark features is determined by the different blue-light absorbing properties of the particles that comprise the clouds. White regions contain material reflecting in the blue; dark regions contain material absorbing in the blue. This reflecting/absorbing behavior is controlled by the composition of the cloud's colored material, which is still a mystery -- one which may be answered by Cassini.

Image Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute

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+ Weekly Saturn Photos: Feb, 27 | March 5 | March 12
+ More Saturn Photos from Planetary Photojournal
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