Photo Agency - Astronomy - Space - Nature

> Saturn's rings in ultraviolet

Saturn's rings in ultraviolet

author: Nasa/JPL/SSI/Novapix

reference: a-sat05-10000

Image Size 300 DPI: 19 * 13 cm

Images taken during the Cassini spacecraft's orbital insertion on June 30 2004 show compositional variation in the A, B and C rings. From the inside out, the Cassini division in faint red at left is followed by the A ring in its entirety. The Cassini Division at left contains thinner, dirtier rings than the turquoise A ring, indicating a more icy composition. The red band roughly three-fourths of the way outward in the A ring is known as the Encke gap. The ring system begins from the inside out with the D, C, B and A rings followed by the F, G and E rings. The red in the image indicates sparser ringlets likely made of dirty, and possibly smaller, particles than in the icier turquoise ringlets.

Keywords for this photo:

2004 - ASTRONOMY - CASSINI - ENCKE - ENCKE GAP - FALSE COLOR - ICE - PLANET - RING - SATURN - ULTRAVIOLET - UV -