Saturn – Page 3 – planetaria

Grand Finale part 3: Cassini completes third ring dive, sees bright clouds on Titan

May 12, 2017 by Paul Scott Anderson

Two versions of the image of Titan’s clouds, taken on May 7, 2017. The first is with stronger enhancement, and the second is with softer enhancement. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SSI

NASA’s Cassini probe has now survived its third dive into Saturn’s rings, specifically the gap between the innermost rings and the planet itself. This is just the latest in a series of 22 such planned dives for the Grand Finale phase, before the mission ends on Sept. 15, 2017. This time, as well as obtaining more close-up views of the rings and Saturn’s atmosphere again, Cassini took a look at Saturn’s largest moon Titan from a distance, and saw some of the longest and brightest clouds in the hazy atmosphere that it has seen in the entire mission. Even though Cassini won’t be making any more close flybys of Titan, these new views are fantastic.

Grand Finale part 2: Cassini completes second epic dive into Saturn’s rings

May 4, 2017 by Paul Scott Anderson

Illustration of Cassini crossing the ring plane between Saturn and its innermost rings .Cassini has now completed its second dive into the rings of Saturn, with 20 left to go during the Grand Finale. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Cassini’s “dance” with Saturn’s rings continues – the probe has now completed its second dive into the rings (orbit 272), specifically the gap between the innermost rings and Saturn itself. That leaves 20 more similar dives to go, as part of the Grand Finale phase of Cassini’s mission before the fateful end on Sept. 15. This is the closest that any spacecraft has ever come to Saturn, showing the rings and the planet itself in detail never seen before.

Image Gallery: More closest-ever Cassini images from Saturn

April 30, 2017 by Paul Scott Anderson

Bluish-coloured storm at Saturn’s north pole, in the middle of the larger “hexagon” jet stream. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SSI/Jason Major

Since the previous post about Cassini’s first dive between Saturn and its rings on April 26, more images have become available. These are the closest-ever images taken of Saturn, showing the north polar region with a huge bluish-coloured storm at the centre of the massive “hexagon” jet stream and many other smaller storms and eddies in the atmosphere. As it dove through the gap, Cassini came within about 3,000 kilometres (1,900 miles) of Saturn’s cloud tops and within about 300 kilometres (200 miles) of the innermost visible edge of the rings. Cassini’s next dive through the gap is scheduled for May 2. See also Sophia Nasr’s (@Pharaoness) beautiful and haunting processed Cassini image taken a couple days later, on April 29.

Cassini sends back spectacular new images from first-ever dive between Saturn and its rings

April 28, 2017 by Paul Scott Anderson

Three of the new raw images taken during Cassini’s first dive between Saturn and its innermost rings. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute

After waiting with bated breath last night, everyone following Cassini’s first-ever dive through the gap between Saturn and its rings let out a collective sigh of relief – the spacecraft made it! This was the first time a probe had ever flown this close to Saturn’s atmosphere and inner rings, and while mission scientists were confident the probe would sail through unharmed, it wasn’t a 100% guarantee, either. But it did, and this is just the first of 22 such dives through this region as part of the “Grand Finale” phase of the mission.

Cassini completes last flyby of Titan and first dive between Saturn and rings in ‘Grand Finale’

April 28, 2017 by Paul Scott Anderson

Raw image from Cassini’s last-ever flyby of Titan, taken on April 21, 2017. Photo Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute

NASA’s Cassini spacecraft has now officially entered the last phase of its mission – the “Grand Finale,” with the last-ever close flyby of Titan and the first of 22 final orbits which will take the spacecraft closer to Saturn than ever before, passing between the inner rings and the planet itself. Cassini has today just completed the first of these passes (with results pending for a few hours as of this writing), which will culminate on Sept. 15 with the spacecraft plunging into Saturn’s atmosphere to meet its fiery end. It will be a sad but incredible ending to an incredible mission.

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