NASA
Solar System Exploration
Our Galactic Neighborhood
Skip Navigation
menu
close modal
Resources
Atmospheric Motion
Published:
December 16, 2004
Atmospheric Motion
ENLARGE
Related
Mysterious Titan begins to appear more familiar as the Cassini spacecraft explores the once hidden surface of this Earth-like moon. + View the interactive feature
Saturn Moons Explorer: Titan
NASA's Cassini spacecraft obtained these views of the south polar area of Saturn's moon Enceladus in visible and near-visible (ultraviolet and infrared) light and synthetic-aperture radar (SAR). Th...
Southern Enceladus in Radar View
The clumpy disturbed appearance of the brilliant F ring constantly changes. The irregular structure of the ring is due, in large part, to the gravitational perturbations on the ring material by one...
Disturbances by Prometheus
This map of Titan's surface illustrates the regions that will be imaged by Cassini during the spacecraft's close flyby of the smog-enshrouded moon on April 16, 2005. At closest approach, the spac...
Cassini's April 16 Flyby of Titan
This image of Bellecia AV-L-02, from the atlas of the giant asteroid Vesta, was created from images taken as NASA's Dawn mission flew around the object, also known as a protoplanet.
Bellecia AV-L-02
Looking down through the A ring and Cassini Division, the Cassini spacecraft sees the bright limb of Saturn. The view shows a portion the rings from the outer B ring, at upper right, to the F ring ...
Peering Through the Plane
Saturn's unusual appearance in this picture is a result of the planet being imaged via an infrared filter.
Darkness Descending
Saturn's chaotically tumbling moon Hyperion is captured in this view. At the top is a 130-kilometer-wide (80-mile) crater seen in some NASA Voyager spacecraft images. Detecting specific features i...
What's the Spin
Saturn's icy moon Mimas is dwarfed by the planet's enormous rings.
Tiny Mimas, Huge Rings
From the Dark Side December 10, 2004 Full-Res: PIA06529 As Cassini swung around to the dark side of the planet during its first close ...
From the Dark Side
The low illumination angle near the terminator makes visible the steep topography of craters on Rhea's battered surface. This view is centered on 10 degrees north latitude, 128 degrees west longi...
Rhea's Pitted Profile
Candor Chasma in central Valles Marineris is filled with light-toned layered deposits thought to be sandstones.
Sandstone in West Candor Chasma
This video describes a computer model that proposes a flow vortex in Saturn's upper atmosphere or ionosphere can explain periodic signatures observed by NASA's Cassini spacecraft in Saturn's magnet...
Diagnosing Saturn's Magnetic Pulse
The eastern rim of the large crater Odysseus is visible along the terminator in this image of Saturn's moon Tethys. This enormous impact feature is the largest on Tethys, at approximately 450 kilo...
Dawn for Odysseus
This image of Ceres is part of a sequence taken by NASA's Dawn spacecraft on May 22, 2015, from a distance of 3,200 miles (5,100 kilometers) with a resolution of 1,600 feet (480 meters) per pixel.
Dawn OpNav9 Image 2
This Cassini spacecraft image provides a view of the southern portion of Tethys' trailing hemisphere. Prominent features include the huge canyon, Ithaca Chasma, approximately centered in this view...
Icy Old Moon
The shadow of the moon Mimas is seen through the unlit side of the Cassini Division of Saturn's rings. As Saturn approaches its August 2009 equinox, the planet's moons cast shadows onto the rings....
Shadow in the Cassini Division
Overexposed Mimas stands starkly against the disk of Saturn as the dim shadow of Epimetheus is captured through the C ring in the planet's rings (right of center at the bottom of the image). In rea...
Saturn and Mimas
Titan's high haze layers are amazing. Cassini captured this detailed view of the relatively faint haze in Titan's upper atmosphere as it receded from its close encounter on March 31, 2005. Similar...
Titan's High Hazes
A trio of icy moons crowds together along the Cassini spacecraft's line of sight. Brilliant Enceladus (504 kilometers, or 313 miles across) sits on the planet's shadow-draped limb at center; Pando...
Gathering of Moons
This image of Saturn's outer A ring features the small moon Daphnis and the waves it raises in the edges of the Keeler Gap. The image was taken by NASA's Cassini spacecraft on Sept. 13, 2017. It is...
Daphnis' Final Appearance
Saturn's moon Tethys with its prominent Odysseus Crater silently slips behind Saturn's largest moon Titan and then emerges on the other side. Tethys is not actually enshrouded in Titan's atmospher...
Tethys Slips Behind Titan
Cassini spies a shadow cast by a vertically extended structure or object in the F ring in this image taken as Saturn approaches its August 2009 equinox. The structure can be seen as a bulge near t...
Shadows in the F Ring
This high resolution image of the icy crust of Europa, one of Jupiter's moons, reveals a surface criss-crossed by multiple sets of ridges and fractures.
Ridges and Fractures on Europa
During its final close flyby of Saturn's moon Enceladus, NASA's Cassini spacecraft revisited a landscape, and a mystery, that it had originally glimpsed more than 10 years earlier.
Enceladus Dalmatian Terrain Close-up
You Might Also Like
The next full Moon will be Friday evening, Jan. 6, 2023, at 6:08 PM EST. The Moon will appear full from Thursday evening through Sunday morning.
The Next Full Moon is the Wolf or Ice Moon
The solar-powered lander has run out of energy after more than four years of science on the Red Planet.
NASA Retires InSight Mars Lander Mission After Years of Science
Scientists have completed the longest-ever study tracking temperatures in Jupiter’s upper atmosphere where its signature colorful striped clouds form.
40-Year Study Finds Mysterious Patterns in Temperatures at Jupiter
After revealing a trove of details about the moons Ganymede and Europa, the mission to Jupiter is setting its sights on sister moon Io.
Juno Explores Jovian Moons During Extended Mission
2022 is one for the history books as NASA caps off another astronomical year.
NASA's Big 2022: Historic Moon Mission, Webb Telescope Images, More
NASA approves development of NEO Surveyor for a launch no later than June 2028.
NEO Surveyor Successfully Passes Key Milestone