Night Side Ringplane

December 17, 2004

PIA Number	PIA06533
Language	english

Night Side Ringplane December 1, 2004	Full-Res: PIA06533
The usually bright B ring (at center) appears very dim in this view of the rings taken on the side of the rings that is not illuminated. The scene resembles a photographic negative, with bright and dark areas reversed (although in some places in the rings, the blackness of space is seen). From this viewing angle, the rings are lit from below: both dense and empty regions are dark, and regions of intermediate particle density are bright.

Night Side Ringplane

December 1, 2004

Full-Res: PIA06533

The usually bright B ring (at center) appears very dim in this view of the rings taken on the side of the rings that is not illuminated. The scene resembles a photographic negative, with bright and dark areas reversed (although in some places in the rings, the blackness of space is seen). From this viewing angle, the rings are lit from below: both dense and empty regions are dark, and regions of intermediate particle density are bright.

The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Cassini-Huygens mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras were designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The imaging team is based at the Space Science Institute, Boulder, Colo.

For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission, visit http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov and the Cassini imaging team home page, http://ciclops.org .

Image Credit:

NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute