Pan circling within the Encke Gap in Saturn’s A ring. As it descended, the probe recorded rivers and deltas carved by methane rain. NASA's Cassini spacecraft has detected dust storms on Saturn's largest moon, making Titan the third Solar System body where such storms have been observed. Cassini scientists have found the ingredients for amino acids condensed onto ice grains emitted by Saturn's sixth-largest moon. A natural color view, created using images taken with red, green and blue spectral filters, of the last image taken by the imaging cameras on NASA's Cassini spacecraft. Huygens sent back the first images from the surface of an alien moon. Browse 52 ends cassini spacecraft mission stock photos and images available, or start a new search to explore more stock photos and images. Scientists have developed a new prediction of the shape of the bubble surrounding our solar system. New research on nine craters on Saturn's largest moon Titan provides details about how weathering affects the surface – and what lies beneath. Cassini mission data provides strong evidence that the northern hemisphere of the moon has been resurfaced with ice from its interior. The faint D ring, Saturn’s innermost ring. And Cassini turned back to find Earth through a gap in Saturn’s rings. Cassini discovered geysers near the south pole of Enceladus, where plumes of water shoot into space and fall back as bright snow. Mission Instrument Size: 2006-05-04: Titan: Cassini-Huygens: Descent Imager/Spectral Radiometer: 516x387x3: PIA08117: Titan Descent Data Movie with Bells and Whistles Full Resolution: TIFF (599.9 kB) JPEG (50.81 kB) 2006-05-04: Titan: Cassini-Huygens See some of Cassini's latest spectacular photos of … Mission scientists were particularly interested in Titan, Saturn’s largest moon — a hazy ball larger than the planet Mercury. Kristen Erickson Get the latest updates on NASA missions, watch NASA TV live, and learn about our quest to reveal the unknown and benefit all humankind. Explore {{searchView.params.phrase}} by color family {{familyColorButtonText(colorFamily.name)}} New analysis of data from NASA's Cassini spacecraft finds auroras at Saturn's poles may keep its atmosphere warm. The following week was dedicated to PSG #75, the Cassini Project Science Group meeting at JPL. Using data from NASA's Cassini spacecraft, scientists found Titan drifting away from Saturn a hundred times faster than previously understood. Rhea, Saturn’s second-largest moon, is nearly 1,000 miles wide and pocked with craters. Whether you're doing it for the nerd cred or the pie, this week on #10Things, we've got all the ways you can celebrate #PiDay with NASA. It will take a future mission, and another spacecraft, to find the answer. Light from the star Antares filters through the rings. For 13 years, Cassini joined the intricate dance of Saturn’s 62 moons. As spring approached and sunlight returned to Saturn’s north pole, Cassini studied the polar hexagon and the dark hurricane at its center. Cassini arrived at Saturn in 2004, after a seven-year voyage. Cassini obtained the images in this mosaic on May 28, 2017, looking over the horizon just after its sixth pass through the gap between Saturn and its rings as part of the mission's Grand Finale. Image scale at Saturn is about 30 miles per pixel (50 kilometers per pixel). Mimas is one of the most battered moons in the solar system, bearing dents and dimples from ancient impacts. JPL has won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Original Interactive Program for its coverage of the Cassini mission's Grand Finale at Saturn. Saturn and its spectacular rings, in a natural-colour composite of 126 images taken by the Cassini spacecraft on October 6, 2004. Image … This rare image taken on July 19, 2013, by NASA's Cassini spacecraft has shows Saturn's rings and … NYTimes.com no longer supports Internet Explorer 9 or earlier. Cassini-Huygens reached Saturn and its moons in July 2… COSPAR, the Committee on Space Research, came to Pasadena on July 15. Huygens (/ ˈ h ɔɪ ɡ ən z / HOY-gənz) was an atmospheric entry ESA robotic space probe that landed successfully on Saturn's moon Titan in 2005. The moon Epimetheus, barely visible at top center, casts a shadow across the A ring. NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute . 100 Images From Cassini’s Mission to Saturn By JONATHAN CORUM UPDATED September 15, 2017 NASA’s Cassini spacecraft burned up in Saturn’s atmosphere on Friday, after 20 years in space. From deep below the soil at Earth’s polar regions to Pluto’s frozen heart, ice exists all over the solar system...and beyond. The planet Saturn is seen in the first color composite made of images taken by NASA's Cassini spacecraft on its approach to the ringed planet, October 21, 2002. During NASA's Cassini mission's final distant encounter with Saturn's giant moon Titan, the spacecraft captured the enigmatic moon's north polar landscape of lakes and seas, which are filled with liquid methane and ethane. This view of Enceladus was taken by NASA's Cassini spacecraft on Sept. 13, 2017. The dark Cassini Division separates Saturn’s A and B rings. Tethys appears ghostly white in ultraviolet light. Hyperion is pockmarked and irregular, and tumbles chaotically in its orbit around the planet. A Last Look at Titan As it glanced around the Saturn system one final time, NASA's Cassini spacecraft captured this view of the planet's giant moon Titan.� It's Likely, NASA Scientists Find, Saturn's Moon Titan Drifting Away Faster Than Previously Thought, Data From NASA's Cassini May Explain Saturn's Atmospheric Mystery, 10 Ways to Celebrate Pi Day with NASA on March 14, The First Global Geologic Map of Titan Completed, New Organic Compounds Found in Enceladus Ice Grains, NASA's Cassini Reveals New Sculpting in Saturn Rings, 10 Things: Unsolved Mysteries of Saturn's Moons, Cassini Finds Saturn's Rings Coat Tiny Moons, Scientists Finally Know What Time It Is on Saturn, NASA's Cassini Data Show Saturn's Rings Relatively New, NASA Research Reveals Saturn is Losing Its Rings at "Worst-Case-Scenario" Rate, Groundbreaking Science Emerges from Ultra-Close Orbits of Saturn, Dust Storms on Titan Spotted for the First Time, Cassini's Final View of Titan's Northern Lakes and Seas, And the Emmy goes to: Cassini's Grand Finale, Saturn's Famous Hexagon May Tower Above the Clouds, Cassini Significant Events 8/1/18 - 8/28/18, Saturn's Famous Hexagon May Tower Above the Clouds (ESA Release), Cassini Significant Events 6/27/18 - 7/31/18, NASA's Cassini Coverage Lands an Emmy Nomination. The first map showing the global geology of Saturn's largest moon, Titan, has been completed and fully reveals a dynamic world of dunes, lakes, plains, craters and other terrains. The spacecraft looked out toward the planet Uranus, a blue speck in the distance. Faint spokes crossed by the long shadows of Janus and Mimas. Inside-Out Rings: Over the Limb This view of Saturn looks toward the planet's night side, lit … Over decades, the crests form a spiral wave, a grooved record of past moon crossings. There’s way more to Saturn than its rings. Saturn is backlit by the sun in this image by Cassini. Cassini-Huygens was one of the most ambitious missions ever launched into space. News, images and videos from the Cassini mission, which explored Saturn and its moons from 2004 to 2017. Built and operated by the European Space Agency (ESA), it was part of the Cassini–Huygens mission and became the first spacecraft to land on Titan and the farthest landing from Earth a spacecraft has ever made. Cassini used infrared to view the hexagonal jet stream swirling around Saturn’s north pole, a six-sided vortex capped with a shimmering aurora. Amanda Barnett Moons and rings cast crisp shadows across Saturn’s clouds. After 22 passes inside the rings, Cassini plowed into Saturn’s rippled clouds on Friday. When Cassini was level with the rings, Saturn’s oblate shape became clear. NASA's Cassini spacecraft has been snapping amazing photos of Saturn and its moons from 2004 to 2017. Researchers are busy analysing some of the final data sent back from the Cassini spacecraft which has been in orbit around Saturn for more than 13 years until the end of its mission in … This site is maintained by the Planetary Science Communications team at, Impact Craters Reveal Details of Titan's Dynamic Surface Weathering, Infrared Eyes on Enceladus: Hints of Fresh Ice in Northern Hemisphere, Are Ocean Planets Common? This true color mosaic of Jupiter was constructed from images taken by the narrow angle camera onboard NASA's Cassini spacecraft on December 29, 2000, during its closest approach to the giant planet at a distance of approximately 10 million kilometers (6.2 million miles). For more than a decade, NASA’s Cassini spacecraft shared the wonders of Saturn and its family of icy moons—taking us to astounding worlds where methane rivers run to a methane sea and where jets of ice and gas are blasting material into space from a liquid water ocean that might harbor the ingredients for life. New data from NASA's Cassini spacecraft may solved a longstanding mystery. The flattened moonlet Pan clears a path inside the rings, while Daphnis leaves a rippled wake where it passes. Almost all of the hydrocarbon seas and lakes on the surface of Saturn's moon Titan cluster around the north pole, as can be seen in this mosaic from NASA's Cassini mission. Cassini flew close by Dione four times, and it discovered evidence of another ocean of water under the moon’s wispy crust of ice. Bill Dunford. The planet also boasts a collection of exotic, and still mysterious, moons. It is among the last images Cassini sent back. Cassini watched as Saturn’s rings slowly tipped downward, casting narrower and narrower shadows. Cassini began its new mission phase, called its Ring-Grazing Orbits, on Nov. 30. A short video about the end of the Cassini mission. UPDATED September 15, 2017. Phillips Davis Director, NASA Planetary Science Division: Cassini returned to Titan over 100 times, using the large moon’s gravity to gradually shift the spacecraft’s orbit around Saturn. Cassini Jupiter Portrait Nov 13, 2003 This true color mosaic of Jupiter was constructed from images taken by the narrow angle camera onboard NASA's Cassini spacecraft on December 29, 2000, during its closest approach to the giant planet at a distance of approximately 10 million kilometers (6.2 million miles). Cassini arrived in the depths of northern winter, with Saturn’s rings tipped up and its north pole in darkness. They are the most detailed global color maps of Jupiter ever produced. This is the last image taken by NASA's Cassini spacecraft before it dove into Saturn's atmosphere. Site Manager: Not all of Saturn’s moons are round. The new images show scenes from high above Saturn's northern hemisphere, including the planet's intriguing hexagon-shaped jet stream. NASA Official: Two important meetings of scientists took center stage for the Cassini team this month. Cassini released the Huygens probe to parachute through Titan’s atmosphere. Some of Cassini’s most striking images were abstract — concentric rings with underlapping shadows. Waves in Saturn’s B ring caused by the moon Janus. Cassini Jupiter Portrait | … Social Media Lead: With the added background light, Cassini was able to observe the ring system in a way that wouldn't be possible from Earth. Cassini took this final image of Saturn's rings on September 13, 2017 while the spacecraft was 684,000 miles (1.1 million kilometers) away from the planet. NASA New NASA research confirms that Saturn's rings are being pulled into Saturn by gravity as a dusty rain of ice particles under the influence of Saturn’s magnetic field. Official website of the Cassini Imaging Team and the Cassini Imaging Central Laboratory for Operations (CICLOPS) where Saturn system images are processed, archived, and posted for the scientific community and the public. Longer supports Internet Explorer 9 or earlier shadows over the rings, plowed. 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