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Near and Far

The above illustration, based on Galileo spacecraft images, shows the approximate difference in apparent size between a full moon at perigee (the closest point in the lunar orbit, pictured at left) and a full moon at apogee, the farthest point in the lunar orbit.
Source: NASA
Published: December 8, 2003

The above illustration, based on Galileo spacecraft images, shows the approximate difference in apparent size between a full moon at perigee (the closest point in the lunar orbit, pictured at left) and a full moon at apogee, the farthest point in the lunar orbit.

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The three very different moons seen here provide targets of great interest for planetary scientists studying the Saturn system. Captured here by Cassini, along with the rings, are Tethys at upper r...
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Saturn's rings, with the moons Tethys, Enceladus and Janus.
Frontier Worlds
Comet ISON shines in this five-minute exposure taken at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center on 8 Nov. at 5:40 a.m. EST.
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Comet ISON shines in this five-minute exposure taken at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center on 8 Nov. at 5:40 a.m. EST.
Comet ISON Passes Through Virgo
This image, processed to show the true size of the giant asteroid Vesta, shows Vesta in front of a spectacular background of stars. It was obtained by the framing camera aboard NASA's Dawn spacecra...
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Dawn's First Glimpse of Vesta -- Processed
Dawn's First Glimpse of Vesta -- Processed
Only Cassini could provide this enchanting, natural color view of crescent Saturn, which gazes down onto the unlit side of the planet's spectacular rings.
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Only Cassini could provide this enchanting, natural color view of crescent Saturn, which gazes down onto the unlit side of the planet's spectacular rings.
Greetings from Saturn
A vortex that was part of a giant storm on Saturn slowly dissipates over time in this set of false color images from NASA's Cassini spacecraft. This clockwise vortex spun off the bright head of the...
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A vortex on Saturn
Staring into the Vortex
The opposition effect, a brightness surge that is visible on Saturn's rings when the sun is directly behind the spacecraft, is captured here as a colorful halo of light moving across Saturn's sunli...
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Recent research suggests much of the eruption activity on the surface of Saturn's moon Enceladus could be in the form of broad, curtain-like eruptions, rather than discrete jets.
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A simulation of curtain eruption Enceladus
Icy Curtain Eruptions on Enceladus Create an Illusion of Discrete Jets
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NASA and the Universe Send a Celestial Valentine
Now, in southern summer, Saturn's shadow stretches across the sunlit southern surface of its rings. Saturn's moon Janus orbits just outside of the main rings and appears below them in this scene. J...
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Shadow of Saturn falls across the rings in this black and white image. Tiny Janus hovers just below the rings.
The Giant's Shadow
This zoomed-in view of Epimetheus, one of the highest resolution ever taken, shows a surface covered in craters, vivid reminders of the hazards of space.
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Epimetheus, moon of Saturn
Zoom-in on Epimetheus
NASA's Cassini spacecraft successfully completed its Oct. 1 flyby of Saturn's moon Enceladus, capturing these raw, unprocessed images of the moon and its dramatic plumes of water vapor and ice. Th...
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Enceladus
Enceladus Flyby E-14 (Raw Image #3)
This image from NASA's Dawn spacecraft of asteroid Vesta shows a part of the surface in Vesta's northern hemisphere, which is scoured by many grooves with different orientations.
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Grooved Surface
Grooved Surface
The Cassini spacecraft takes a close view of some of the southern terrain of Saturn's moon Enceladus, where newly created terrain is on display. See New to Old on Enceladus for a mosaic of this ge...
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Enceladus
The New South
This image of mass wasting features along Occator Craters rim was obtained by NASAs Dawn spacecraft on August 2, 2018 from an altitude of about 130 miles (210 kilometers).
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Mass Wasting Features Along Occator Crater's Rim
Mass Wasting Features Along Occator Crater's Rim
This mosaic from the Descent Imager/Spectral Radiometer camera on the European Space Agency's Huygens probe combines 17 image triplets, projected from an altitude of 800 meters (2,625 feet). The ar...
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A mosaic of Titan's surface
Huygens Titan Mosaic #2
Craters in the northern hemisphere of dwarf planet Ceres are seen in this image taken by NASA's Dawn spacecraft on June 6, 2015.
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Ceres' Northern Hemisphere in Survey
This Synthetic Aperture Radar image of the surface of Saturn's moon Titan was obtained by the Cassini spacecraft on Sept. 7, 2005. The bright, rough region on the left side of the image seems to b...
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This is an image of the surface of Saturns moon Titan
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Craters in Various States of Degradation
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Storm Alley's latest, greatest resident, the recent lightning-producing storm seen by the Cassini spacecraft and Earth-based observers churns away. Turbulent eddies to the west (left) of the storm ...
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'Storm Alley' on Saturn
Against the Current
Saturn's northern hemisphere is presently a serene blue, more befitting of Uranus or Neptune, as seen in this natural color image from Cassini. Light rays here travel a much longer path through th...
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Saturn's northern hemisphere
Saturn's Blue Cranium
Artist Rendition: The Huygens Probe en route to Titan This artist's rendition depicts the Huygens Probe, after deploying from the Cassini Orbiter, en route into the murky atmosphere of Saturn's...
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The Huygens Probe en route to Titan
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Capturing the interplay between light and shadow, the Cassini spacecraft looks toward the night side of Saturn where sunlight reflected off the rings has dimly illuminated what would otherwise be t...
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Capturing the interplay between light and shadow, the Cassini spacecraft looks toward the night side of Saturn where sunlight reflected off the rings has dimly illuminated what would otherwise be the dark side of the planet.
Light and Dark Tricks
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Ultraviolet Enceladus
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Seeing in the Dark
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