The spacecraft called Cassini which has been orbiting the planet Saturn for over eight years recently snapped an incredible photo of the gassy planet.
Cassini happened to catch Saturn directly in front of the sun and snapped a stunning photo that highlights the planets rings in amazing colours.
The images are actually sixty images stitched together from October 2012, which Cassini was face to face with Saturn’s shadow. Cassini was purposely positioned there in order for researchers to learn more about the planet’s atmosphere.
The resulting images will be a useful tool for researchers, but are simply a magnificent natural wonder for the rest of us.
DID YOU KNOW?
- Saturn is very low in density which means that it could float in a bathtub of water if there was one big enough!
- Saturn’s infamous rings are made up of ice particles that stretch thousands of kilometers into space.
- It’s the sixth planet from the Sun and the second largest in our solar system.
- Saturn is named after the Roman god of agriculture (called Kronus in Greek mythology who became the king of the gods, only to be overthrown by his son Jupiter (called Zeus in Greek mythology.)
(Photo by NASA)