High-Altitude Clouds

Intricate undulations and swirls within the banded atmosphere of Saturn give scientists clues to the processes occurring there. The lower part of the image shows the characteristic billows that fo...

An enhanced close-up view shows at least two distinct jets spraying a mist of fine particles from the south polar region of Enceladus. The particles in the plume scatter sunlight most effectively a...

This animated sequence of Cassini images shows methane clouds moving above the large methane sea on Saturn's moon Titan known as Ligeia Mare.

This computer generated montage shows Neptune as it would appear from a spacecraft approaching Triton, Neptune's largest moon at 2706 km (1683 mi) in diameter. 

This view from NASA’s Dawn mission shows where ice has been detected in the northern wall of Ceres’ Juling Crater, which is in almost permanent shadow.

NASA's Cassini spacecraft obtained this unprocessed image of Saturn's moon Hyperion on Aug. 25, 2011. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute

The effects of the moon Prometheus create intricate formations in Saturn's thin F ring. The gravity of potato-shaped Prometheus (86 kilometers, or 53 miles across) periodically creates streamer-ch...

Students and staffers gather outside the Science Center of Iowa in Des Moines. They smile and wave in anticipation of their deep-space portrait session with NASA's Cassini spacecraft during the Jul...

A group of bright spokes tightly cluster together in Saturn's B ring. The spokes seen here generally all exhibit the same degree of shearing, or tilting, but some deviations are apparent. In this i...

SDO collected images of the rarest predictable solar event—the transit of Venus across the face of the Sun in 2012.

This frame from an animation of the dwarf planet Ceres was made by combining images taken by the Dawn spacecraft on January 25, 2015. These images of Ceres, and they represent the highest-resolutio...

Three moons have bunched themselves together in this image of Saturn's rings. Janus (179 kilometers, or 111 miles across) sits bright and overexposed outside the faint F ring. Prometheus (86 kilom...

A new slide show highlights the Cassini spacecraft's third year at the ringed world. + Slide show

Saturn’s dark-side rings glow in shades of brown and gold, contrasting with the more neutral appearance of the icy moon Tethys. This view looks toward the anti-Saturn side of Tethys (1,062 kilomet...

This scene captured by NASA's Dawn spacecraft on Oct. 21, 2016, from Ceres' northern hemisphere shows part of the rim of Dantu Crater, at top right. Rao Crater is the largest crater in the bottom l...

This view of the unlit side of Saturn's rings captures the small shepherd moon Pandora as it swings around the outside of the F ring. The F ring displays a few discrete bright clumps here. This vi...

Saturn's moon Enceladus looks tranquil here, concealing the true nature of this active moon. To learn about the icy plumes jetting from Enceladus' south polar region, see Plumewatch and Jet Blue. ...

+ Original version + Image with labels   With giant Saturn hanging in the blackness and sheltering Cassini from the sun's blinding glare, the spacecraft viewed the rings as never before,...

Atmosphere and Enceladus October 28, 2004 Full-Res: PIA06508 Saturn's southern atmosphere looms before Cassini, displaying rich detail...

This side-by-side image shows a Cassini radar image (on the left) of what is the largest body of liquid ever found on Titan's north pole, compared to Lake Superior (on the right). This close-up is...

Technicians Susan Ung and Andy Anderson cut and stitch the gold-colored thermal blankets for NASA's Cassini spacecraft.

The brightly reflective moon Enceladus appears before Saturn's rings while the larger moon Titan looms in the distance. Jets of water ice and vapor emanating from the south pole of Enceladus (hint...

Four views of asteroid Bennu along with a corresponding global mosaic.

NASA's Dawn mission patch, part of the Dawn Mission Art series.

+ View Movie Cassini stares deep into the swirling hurricane-like vortex at Saturn's south pole, where the vertical structure of the clouds is highlighted by shadows. Such a storm, with a well-de...