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Cassini Lightning

Published: April 12, 2010

NASA's Cassini scientists waited years for the right conditions to produce the first movie that shows lightning on another planet - Saturn.

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This colorful spectrogram represents data collected by Cassini's Radio and Plasma Wave Science instrument as it crossed through Saturn's D ring on May 28, 2017.
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Color image shows rise in sound as Cassini crossed the D-ring.
Cassini's First D-Ring Crossing
This sequence of images shows the Sun from its surface to its upper atmosphere and in order of temperature from the first one at 6,000 degrees C on the surface out to about 10 million degrees C.
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This sequence of images shows the Sun from its surface to its upper atmosphere and in order of temperature, the colors go: orange, red, yellow, lighter yellow, purple, blue, green, lighter blue.
From Hot to Hottest
Eleven years in the life of the Sun, spanning most of solar cycle 23.
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Eleven years in the life of the Sun, spanning most of solar cycle 23, as it progressed from solar minimum (upper left) to maximum conditions and back to minimum (upper right) again, seen as a collage of ten full-disk images of the lower corona.
Solar Cycle
NASA's Cassini has found salt in Saturn's E ring, hinting that the moon Enceladus could have an underground liquid reservoir, perhaps even an ocean.
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Briny Breath of Enceladus
Briny Breath of Enceladus
Dwarf planet Ceres is shown in these false-color renderings, which highlight differences in surface materials.
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An image of the dwarf planet Ceres
Ceres Rotation and Occator Crater
A shortened, 54-second version of Cassini's Grand Finale animation showing the spacecraft's final moments.
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A short animated video showing Cassini's plunge into Saturn.
Cassini's Final Moments
This spectrogram and video show a changing pattern of radio waves from Saturn known as Saturn Kilometric Radiation, as detected by NASA's Cassini spacecraft.
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This image and video show a changing pattern of radio waves from Saturn known as Saturn Kilometric Radiation, as detected by NASA's Cassini spacecraft.
Saturn's Radio Period Crossover
The animation archived on this page shows the geocentric phase, libration, position angle of the axis, and apparent diameter of the Moon throughout the year 2017, at hourly intervals.
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The animation archived on this page shows the geocentric phase, libration, position angle of the axis, and apparent diameter of the Moon throughout the year 2017, at hourly intervals.
Moon Phase and Libration, 2017
Rotating asteroids have a tough time sticking to their orbits. Their surfaces heat up during the day and cool down at night, giving off radiation that can act as a sort of mini-thruster.
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Video showing host asteroids can slip out of stable orbits.
How Sunlight Pushes Asteroids
This is an animated artist interpretation of the area surrounding the Huygens landing site, based on images and data returned Jan. 14, 2005.
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Artist's interpretation of Huygens on Titan
Huygens Landing Site Revisited
Great Dark Spot  
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Great Dark Spot
Great Dark Spot
Dark spokes dance around Saturn's B ring in this series of movies comprised of images taken with Cassini's wide-angle camera.
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Dark spokes dance around Saturn's B ring
'Tis the Season for Spokes
Dr. Bonnie Buratti describes her background as well as her role as a senior research scientist.
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Dr. Bonnie Buratti describes her background as well as her role as a senior research scientist.
Through the Eyes of Scientists - Meet Bonnie Buratti
NASA's Voyager 2 spacecraft gave humanity its first glimpse of Neptune and its moon Triton in the summer of 1989.
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NASA's Voyager 2 spacecraft gave humanity its first glimpse of Neptune and its moon Triton in the summer of 1989.
Triton Video
For 13 years the spacecraft’s incredible, truly otherworldly images have revealed the wonder of Saturn in surprising, often awe-inspiring ways.
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Cassini at Saturn
Cassini: The Wonder of Saturn (Video)
This rotating mosaic of asteroid Bennu is composed of 40 images captured by the PolyCam imager onboard NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft over a four-hour period on Dec. 2, 2018.
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rotating, rocky, diamond-shaped asteroid
Asteroid 101955 Bennu Rotating
What incredible things will the Cassini spacecraft at Saturn see and do over the next few years?
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Cassini's coming attractions at Saturn
Cassini: Coming Attractions at Saturn
High-Altitude Clouds
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High-Altitude Clouds
High-Altitude Clouds
Hello from Saturn, essentially on the opposite side of the sun as seen from Earth! This annual occurrence called solar conjunction, when Saturn (and Cassini) nearly disappear behind the sun.
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Short video showing how the sun comes between Saturn and Earth.
What's Up? Solar Conjunction
Since the 1960’s, scientists have suspected that frozen water could survive in cold, dark craters at the Moon’s poles. 
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Since the 1960’s, scientists have suspected that frozen water could survive in cold, dark craters at the Moon’s poles.
Water on the Moon
NASA's Cassini spacecraft, in orbit around Saturn for nearly 13 years, is beginning its Grand Finale — and it's thanks to some Crazy Engineering!  A team of engineers called astrodynamicists use ma...
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Video describing Cassini's navigation.
Crazy Engineering: Astrodynamics
Surrounding Earth is a giant magnetic field called the magnetosphere. Its shape is defined not only by the planet's north and south magnetic poles, but also by a steady stream of particles coming i...
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Visualization showing Earth's magnetosphere trailing behind it in reaction to the solar wind.
Modeling Earth's Magnetism
This frame from a video from NASA's Dawn mission shows dwarf planet Ceres in false-color renderings, which highlight differences in surface materials.
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Ceres Rotation and Occator Crater (Video)
Ceres Rotation and Occator Crater (Video)
NASA’s Parker Solar Probe mission launched Aug. 12, 2018, from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.
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Video of rocket launching.
Parker Solar Probe Launch
This movie presents a series of animations showing NASA's Dawn spacecraft traveling to and operating at the giant asteroid Vesta.
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Dawn animation
Animation of Dawn's Visit to Vesta

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