This is the last image taken by NASA's Cassini spacecraft before it dove into Saturn's atmosphere. Mimas is one of the most battered moons in the solar system, bearing dents and dimples from ancient impacts. Science Writer: Scientists have developed a new prediction of the shape of the bubble surrounding our solar system. Cassini flew through the plumes many times. Images taken in four directions as the Huygens probe parachuted through Titan’s atmosphere. The icy crust of Enceladus encases an ocean of water, dotted with hydrothermal vents and warmed by the stretching and squeezing of Saturn’s gravity. Dr. Lori Glaze Rhea, Saturn’s second-largest moon, is nearly 1,000 miles wide and pocked with craters. A rainbow effect from reflected sunlight. The new images show scenes from high above Saturn's northern hemisphere, including the planet's intriguing hexagon-shaped jet stream. Cassini discovered geysers near the south pole of Enceladus, where plumes of water shoot into space and fall back as bright snow. The length of a day on Saturn: 10 hours, 33 minutes and 38 seconds. The following week was dedicated to PSG #75, the Cassini Project Science Group meeting at JPL. And Cassini turned back to find Earth through a gap in Saturn’s rings. Cassini detected lightning deep within the planet. Bill Dunford. The spacecraft looked out toward the planet Uranus, a blue speck in the distance. Cassini revealed in great detail the true wonders of Saturn, a giant world ruled by raging storms and delicate harmonies of … 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 September 2017. After 22 passes inside the rings, Cassini plowed into Saturn’s rippled clouds on Friday. These color maps of Jupiter were constructed from images taken by the narrow-angle camera onboard NASA's Cassini spacecraft on Dec. 11 and 12, 2000, as the spacecraft neared Jupiter during its flyby of the giant planet. Tethys appears ghostly white in ultraviolet light. Inside-Out Rings: Over the Limb This view of Saturn looks toward the planet's night side, lit … The spring light also helped Cassini find small clumps and moonlets casting shadows over the rings. The planet is wider than it is tall. 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 captured this view on Sept. 14, 2017 at 12:59 p.m. PDT (3:59 p.m. EDT; 19:59 GMT). Saturn is backlit by the sun in this image by Cassini. 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. 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 view of Enceladus was taken by NASA's Cassini spacecraft on Sept. 13, 2017. 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). Planetary scientists have learned something significant: More than a quarter of the exoplanets they studied could be ocean worlds. Over decades, the crests form a spiral wave, a grooved record of past moon crossings. Get the latest updates on NASA missions, watch NASA TV live, and learn about our quest to reveal the unknown and benefit all humankind. 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. 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Cassini was on its way to Saturn. On the top is one of the earliest images Cassini took of the ringed planet; the other is one of Cassini's final images of Saturn. The Imaging Team leader, Dr. Carolyn Porco, is the Director of CICLOPS. They are the most detailed global color maps of Jupiter ever produced. Images from NASA, JPL-Caltech, Space Science Institute and the University of Arizona. The spacecraft incinerated itself to prevent any future contamination of the moons Enceladus or Titan. Cassini photographed the sun’s reflection and used background stars to measure the opacity of the rings. Explore {{searchView.params.phrase}} by color family {{familyColorButtonText(colorFamily.name)}} As spring approached and sunlight returned to Saturn’s north pole, Cassini studied the polar hexagon and the dark hurricane at its center. The spacecraft was launched with two elements: the Cassini orbiter and the Huygens probe. Hyperion is pockmarked and irregular, and tumbles chaotically in its orbit around the planet. Not all of Saturn’s moons are round. The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences nominated NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, for Outstanding Original Interactive Program for its coverage of the Cassini mission's Grand Finale at Saturn, including news, web, education, television and social media efforts. 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). Light from the star Antares filters through the rings. The cratered moon Rhea hovers over distant Dione. Cassini's Grand Finale orbits pay off: Final dives tell the story of the previously unexplored region between Saturn and its rings. Images collected during Cassini's superclose orbits in 2017 are giving scientists new insight into the complex workings of the rings. 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. Cassini returned to Titan over 100 times, using the large moon’s gravity to gradually shift the spacecraft’s orbit around Saturn. 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. The sequence included a brief glimpse of the moon Enceladus as it slipped behind Saturn. The change in seasons brought a huge storm that wrapped around Saturn’s northern hemisphere. The Huygens mission is the ESA-provided element of the international Cassini-Huygens mission to Saturn and Titan jointly developed by NASA and ESA. The shadows grew narrower until the spring equinox, when Saturn’s rings and equator were flat to the sun. NASA.gov brings you the latest images, videos and news from America's space agency. The Cassini mission revealed a surprising feature emerging at Saturn's northern pole as it nears summertime: a warming, high-altitude vortex with a hexagonal shape, akin to the famous hexagon seen deeper down in Saturn's clouds. Cassini began its new mission phase, called its Ring-Grazing Orbits, on Nov. 30. New research on nine craters on Saturn's largest moon Titan provides details about how weathering affects the surface – and what lies beneath. NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute . The spacecraft’s instruments detected several molecules associated with life, but were not designed to search for microbes. When Cassini was level with the rings, Saturn’s oblate shape became clear. As it descended, the probe recorded rivers and deltas carved by methane rain. 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. Images taken by Cassini's cameras are published directly to the web shortly after they're received from the spacecraft, making them available for anyone to peruse and enjoy. When Janus and Epimetheus trade places, gravity forms a crest in Saturn’s B ring. Straw in the B Ring's Edge: This image shows a region in Saturn's outer B ring. Moons and rings cast crisp shadows across Saturn’s clouds. Cassini Jupiter Portrait | … News, images and videos from the Cassini mission, which explored Saturn and its moons from 2004 to 2017. The moon Epimetheus, barely visible at top center, casts a shadow across the A ring. NASA.gov brings you the latest images, videos and news from America's space agency. For 13 years, Cassini joined the intricate dance of Saturn’s 62 moons. It was the first spacecraft to orbit the ringed planet. 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