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Spacecraft Trajectory
Published:
December 16, 2004
Spacecraft Trajectory
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Dramatic edge-on Cassini views of Saturn's E ring, like these side-by-side images, reveal for the first time a double-banded structure. The structure is similar to that of Jupiter's gossamer ring a...
Double-Banded E Ring
This image of Ceres is part of a sequence taken by NASA's Dawn spacecraft on May 4, 2015, from a distance of 8,400 miles (13,600 kilometers).
Dawn RC3 Image 8
This close-up of the inner edge of the Cassini Division shows an enormous amount of structure, including a grainy texture in the bright outer B ring material near the gap edge. An extreme enhancem...
Intriguing Texture
This Solar & Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) image, taken Oct. 24, 2012, at 11:06 a.m. UTC, shows a view of Saturn as it passes behind the sun, Cassini spacecraft in tow. Credit: SOHO - http:...
Saturn Superior Conjunction
+ Visit the E8 Flyby Page On Nov. 21 Cassini will again fly by Enceladus, this time with a very different geometry, approaching within 1,606 kilometers (997.9 miles) of the surface. The closest ap...
E-8: Cassini Returns to the Tiger Stripes
This anaglyph image shows the topography of asteroid Vesta's southwestern region. The large, heavily degraded subdued rimmed crater in the top right becomes clearer in this anaglyph image. You need...
Anaglyph Image of Vesta's Southwestern Latitudes
A swing high above Saturn by NASA's Cassini spacecraft revealed this stately view of the golden-hued planet and its main rings.
Jewel of the Solar System
+ Annotated version The constant change in Saturn’s wavy, wiggly F ring is on display in this set of images obtained by NASA’s Cassini spacecraft. The images show a view looking directly down onto...
Wavy, Wiggly Ring
NASA's Cassini spacecraft sees bright methane clouds drifting in the summer skies of Saturn's moon Titan, along with dark hydrocarbon lakes and seas clustered around the north pole.
Northern Summer on Titan
The constellation Orion is framed by two Perseid meteors on Aug. 12, 2018 in Cedar Breaks National Monument, Utah.
Perseids and Orion
Tethys appears here, against a background of star trails, in a view acquired as the icy moon exited Saturn's shadow. Tethys is illuminated in this view by two main sources: reflected "ringshine" an...
Against a Hail of Stars
Saturn's moon Enceladus orbits serenely before a backdrop of clouds roiling the atmosphere the planet. Enceladus (504 kilometers, or 313 miles across) appears in front of the planet's rings near t...
Beyond the Tumult
Two moons that have profound impacts on the rings, Mimas and Prometheus, are seen here with the F ring.
Ring Shapers
This giant mosaic reveals Saturn's icy moon Rhea in her full, crater-scarred glory. This view consists of 21 clear-filter images and is centered at 0.4 degrees south latitude, 171 degrees west lon...
Rhea: Full Moon
The Cassini spacecraft spies Titan's south polar vortex from below the moon in this image. Imaging scientists are monitoring the vortex to study its seasonal development. For a color image of the...
Spying on Titan
The Cassini spacecraft, using its radar system, has discovered very strong evidence for hydrocarbon lakes on Titan. Dark patches, which resemble terrestrial lakes, seem to be sprinkled all over th...
Lakes on Titan
This oblique view of Saturn's moon Iapetus from high latitude shows how the dark, heavily cratered terrain of Cassini Regio transitions to a bright, icy terrain at high latitudes. In this mosaic o...
Iapetus: A View from the Top
A seven-year journey to the ringed planet Saturn begins with the liftoff of a Titan IVB/Centaur carrying the Cassini orbiter and its attached Huygens probe. Launch occurred at 4:43 a.m. EDT, Oct. 1...
Cassini Launch - Wide View
Shadows adorn Saturn in this Cassini spacecraft view, which also includes the moon Rhea. Rhea (1,528 kilometers, 949 miles across) is shown orbiting between the planet and the spacecraft and appea...
Southern Shadows
This image shows the Minotaur V rocket that will carry NASA's Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) on a pad at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility at Wallops Island, Va.
LADEE's Minotaur V Rocket
Cassini made a close flyby of Saturn's moon Iapetus on Sept. 10, 2007, and the visual and infrared mapping spectrometer obtained these images showing surface composition and particle size. The vis...
Tiny Grains on Iapetus -- Labeled
This view from NASA's Dawn spacecraft shows a crater in the southern hemisphere of Ceres with a prominent central peak. The image is centered at approximately 63 degrees south latitude, 143 degrees...
Dawn LAMO Image 18
This close-up view of Hakumyi crater, as seen by NASA's Dawn spacecraft, provides insight into the origin of the small crater and lobe-shaped flow next to its southern rim.
Hakumyi Crater from LAMO
Cassini captured this revealing view, which shows that Saturn's hydrogen- and helium-rich atmosphere is a dynamic place, filled with spots, ovals and swirling vortices and filaments of gas. The im...
Spotting the Storms
This view takes in the outer third of Saturn's C ring -- from the Maxwell Gap, at center left, to the C-ring edge at lower right. For reference, see the labeled mosaic of the rings presented in Ex...
Saturn's Outer C Ring
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