01 July 2007
Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute
NASA recently published a stunning picture of Saturn's wonderful rings, acquired by the Saturn-bound Cassini spacecraft. The image shows Pan, Saturn's tiny moon, gliding through a gap in the rings, known as the Encke Gap.
The spacecraft was viewing the dark side of the rings, from about 13° above the ringplane. The image also shows the B ring, the most massive of the rings, and the Cassini Division. The narrow F ring is visible as a bright thread below the A ring.
The visual light image was taken on 29 April 2007, with Cassini's narrow-angle camera. The spacecraft was approximately 1.7 million km from Pan. Image scale is 10 km per pixel.
Pan (26 km across) is the innermost of Saturn's known moons, orbiting its parent planet at a distance of approximately 133,000 km. The orbital period of Pan is about 0.6 day. It is a shepherd satellite that keeps the Encke Gap clear. The existence of gaps, or divisions, in the rings is due to the gravitational influence of some of Saturn's moons.
Further Reading
Cassini-Huygens Mission
http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/home/index.cfm
Aymen Mohamed Ibrahem
Senior Astronomy Specialist