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. From deep below the soil at Earth’s polar regions to Pluto’s frozen heart, ice exists all over the solar system...and beyond. Cassini's Grand Finale orbits pay off: Final dives tell the story of the previously unexplored region between Saturn and its rings. It was the first spacecraft to orbit the ringed planet. Social Media Lead: Planetary scientists have learned something significant: More than a quarter of the exoplanets they studied could be ocean worlds. The spacecraft incinerated itself to prevent any future contamination of the moons Enceladus or Titan. Cassini flew through the plumes many times. The moon’s leading hemisphere sweeps its orbit clean of dark dust, giving Iapetus a two-toned appearance. NASA's Cassini spacecraft viewed this area at a level of detail twice as high as it … 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. Dr. Lori Glaze This is the last image taken by NASA's Cassini spacecraft before it dove into Saturn's atmosphere. Cassini-Huygens reached Saturn and its moons in July 2… The planet also boasts a collection of exotic, and still mysterious, moons. Cassini flew close by Dione four times, and it discovered evidence of another ocean of water under the moon’s wispy crust of ice. Faint spokes crossed by the long shadows of Janus and Mimas. With the added background light, Cassini was able to observe the ring system in a way that wouldn't be possible from Earth. Prometheus carves a new ripple in the F ring. For 13 years, Cassini joined the intricate dance of Saturn’s 62 moons. Tethys appears ghostly white in ultraviolet light. This view of Enceladus was taken by NASA's Cassini spacecraft on Sept. 13, 2017. 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 rare image taken on July 19, 2013, by NASA's Cassini spacecraft has shows Saturn's rings and … Cassini captured this view on Sept. 14, 2017 at 12:59 p.m. PDT (3:59 p.m. EDT; 19:59 GMT). Some of Cassini’s most striking images were abstract — concentric rings with underlapping shadows. When Cassini was level with the rings, Saturn’s oblate shape became clear. There’s way more to Saturn than its rings. The primary scope of the mission is to descend through the atmosphere of Titan, Saturn's largest moon, making … 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.� Cassini-Huygens: 3000x1266x3: PIA22766: Cassini orbiting Saturn (Illustration) Full … The faint D ring, Saturn’s innermost ring. The moons Janus and Epimetheus share the same orbit, slipping past each other every four years in an endless relay race. By JONATHAN CORUM 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. They are the most detailed global color maps of Jupiter ever produced. 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. Cassini used infrared to view the hexagonal jet stream swirling around Saturn’s north pole, a six-sided vortex capped with a shimmering aurora. A rainbow effect from reflected sunlight. The cratered moon Rhea hovers over distant Dione. Cassini studied the mysterious bright spokes, first seen by the Voyager spacecraft, that appear under the raking light of Saturn’s spring equinox. Science Writer: Some of Cassini’s orbits took it behind Saturn, into hours of darkness. See some of Cassini's latest spectacular photos of … A study using Cassini data reveals a warming, high-altitude, hexagonal vortex emerging at Saturn’s northern pole. Like Earth, Saturn has a tilted axis. Cassini watched as Saturn’s rings slowly tipped downward, casting narrower and narrower shadows. Cassini arrived in the depths of northern winter, with Saturn’s rings tipped up and its north pole in darkness. As spring approached and sunlight returned to Saturn’s north pole, Cassini studied the polar hexagon and the dark hurricane at its center. The moons Prometheus and Pandora straddle the narrow F ring, a thin band that is kinked and braided by the inner moon’s gravity. Light from the star Antares filters through the rings. Cassini took its final set of images on Thursday. JPL has won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Original Interactive Program for its coverage of the Cassini mission's Grand Finale at Saturn. Straw in the B Ring's Edge: This image shows a region in Saturn's outer B ring. News, images and videos from the Cassini mission, which explored Saturn and its moons from 2004 to 2017. Hyperion is pockmarked and irregular, and tumbles chaotically in its orbit around the planet. Saturn is backlit by the sun in this image by Cassini. The Huygens mission is the ESA-provided element of the international Cassini-Huygens mission to Saturn and Titan jointly developed by NASA and ESA. Loaded with an array of powerful instruments and cameras, the spacecraft was capable of taking accurate measurements and detailed images in a variety of atmospheric conditions and light spectra. 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. Cassini detected lightning deep within the planet. 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. 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. Cassini’s cameras were able to pierce Titan’s smoggy nitrogen atmosphere, revealing sunlight glinting on frigid lakes of liquid methane and other hydrocarbons. Cassini began its new mission phase, called its Ring-Grazing Orbits, on Nov. 30. Phillips Davis The spring light also helped Cassini find small clumps and moonlets casting shadows over the rings. Site Manager: Bill Dunford. And Cassini turned back to find Earth through a gap in Saturn’s rings. NASA.gov brings you the latest images, videos and news from America's space agency. Kristen Erickson Not all of Saturn’s moons are round. 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. Mimas is one of the most battered moons in the solar system, bearing dents and dimples from ancient impacts. The spacecraft’s instruments detected several molecules associated with life, but were not designed to search for microbes. Cassini returned to Titan over 100 times, using the large moon’s gravity to gradually shift the spacecraft’s orbit around Saturn. The flattened moonlet Pan clears a path inside the rings, while Daphnis leaves a rippled wake where it passes. Cassini used Titan’s gravity to tour Saturn’s rings, climbing high above the ring plane and threading gaps between the rings. NASA Official: New measurements of the mass of Saturn's rings reveal their age — and something they have in common with dinosaurs. NASA.gov brings you the latest images, videos and news from America's space agency. The shadows grew narrower until the spring equinox, when Saturn’s rings and equator were flat to the sun. 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. 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'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. 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. 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. A radar image of Ligeia Mare, a lake of liquid methane on Titan. Cassini Jupiter Portrait | … Amanda Barnett New research on nine craters on Saturn's largest moon Titan provides details about how weathering affects the surface – and what lies beneath. 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. It will take a future mission, and another spacecraft, to find the answer. Saturn and its spectacular rings, in a natural-colour composite of 126 images taken by the Cassini spacecraft on October 6, 2004. Mission scientists were particularly interested in Titan, Saturn’s largest moon — a hazy ball larger than the planet Mercury. 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. The spacecraft looked out toward the planet Uranus, a blue speck in the distance. NASA's Cassini spacecraft has sent to Earth its first views of Saturn's atmosphere since beginning the latest phase of its mission. 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. NYTimes.com no longer supports Internet Explorer 9 or earlier. 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 The moonlet Atlas, only 19 miles across, follows the sharp edge of Saturn’s A ring. Over decades, the crests form a spiral wave, a grooved record of past moon crossings. Cassini scientists have found the ingredients for amino acids condensed onto ice grains emitted by Saturn's sixth-largest moon. 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. Each season on Saturn lasts about seven Earth years. The final Cassini Science Symposium, and other recent Cassini mission events. 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. Browse 52 ends cassini spacecraft mission stock photos and images available, or start a new search to explore more stock photos and images. The planet is wider than it is tall. Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute This monochrome view is the last image taken by the imaging cameras on NASA's Cassini spacecraft. 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. Images taken in four directions as the Huygens probe parachuted through Titan’s atmosphere. 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 … The spacecraft was launched with two elements: the Cassini orbiter and the Huygens probe. Explore {{searchView.params.phrase}} by color family {{familyColorButtonText(colorFamily.name)}} Director, NASA Planetary Science Division: Cassini arrived at Saturn in 2004, after a seven-year voyage. Could alien microbes be living inside Enceladus? Please upgrade your browser. When Janus and Epimetheus trade places, gravity forms a crest in Saturn’s B ring. New data from NASA's Cassini spacecraft may solved a longstanding mystery. Cassini released the Huygens probe to parachute through Titan’s atmosphere. The moon Epimetheus, barely visible at top center, casts a shadow across the A ring. After 22 passes inside the rings, Cassini plowed into Saturn’s rippled clouds on Friday. Inside-Out Rings: Over the Limb This view of Saturn looks toward the planet's night side, lit … 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). Spray from Enceladus forms Saturn’s diffuse E ring. Images collected during Cassini's superclose orbits in 2017 are giving scientists new insight into the complex workings of the rings. The new images show scenes from high above Saturn's northern hemisphere, including the planet's intriguing hexagon-shaped jet stream. 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. NASA’s Cassini spacecraft burned up in Saturn’s atmosphere on Friday, after 20 years in space. Get the latest updates on NASA missions, watch NASA TV live, and learn about our quest to reveal the unknown and benefit all humankind. Image scale at Saturn is about 30 miles per pixel (50 kilometers per pixel). But of all of Saturn’s moons, Enceladus was the most surprising. Scientists have developed a new prediction of the shape of the bubble surrounding our solar system. NASA's Cassini spacecraft has been snapping amazing photos of Saturn and its moons from 2004 to 2017. Huygens sent back the first images from the surface of an alien moon. NASA The sequence included a brief glimpse of the moon Enceladus as it slipped behind Saturn. New analysis of data from NASA's Cassini spacecraft finds auroras at Saturn's poles may keep its atmosphere warm. Tethys is mostly water ice, marked with a large crater on one side and a canyon running from pole to pole on the other. Cassini was on its way to Saturn. Two important meetings of scientists took center stage for the Cassini team this month. 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). 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. Moons and rings cast crisp shadows across Saturn’s clouds. 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. 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. Using data from NASA's Cassini spacecraft, scientists found Titan drifting away from Saturn a hundred times faster than previously understood. Clockwise from top: Telesto, Prometheus, Titan and Dione. Images from NASA, JPL-Caltech, Space Science Institute and the University of Arizona. Cassini photographed the sun’s reflection and used background stars to measure the opacity of the rings. Dust and ice from Saturn's vast rings accretes onto the moons embedded within and near the rings. Waves in Saturn’s B ring caused by the moon Janus. Cassini-Huygens was one of the most ambitious missions ever launched into space. Pan circling within the Encke Gap in Saturn’s A ring. Cassini revealed in great detail the true wonders of Saturn, a giant world ruled by raging storms and delicate harmonies of … The Imaging Team leader, Dr. Carolyn Porco, is the Director of CICLOPS. From left: Tethys, Enceladus and backlit Titan. Get the latest updates on NASA missions, watch NASA TV live, and learn about our quest to reveal the unknown and benefit all humankind. COSPAR, the Committee on Space Research, came to Pasadena on July 15. Cassini mission data provides strong evidence that the northern hemisphere of the moon has been resurfaced with ice from its interior. The following week was dedicated to PSG #75, the Cassini Project Science Group meeting at JPL. As it descended, the probe recorded rivers and deltas carved by methane rain. 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. Like Earth’s moon, Iapetus orbits with the same side facing its planet. Cassini discovered geysers near the south pole of Enceladus, where plumes of water shoot into space and fall back as bright snow. ESA's Cassini-Huygens website features news, status reports on the mission, images, videos, live streaming and much more! It is among the last images Cassini sent back. The dark Cassini Division separates Saturn’s A and B rings. The change in seasons brought a huge storm that wrapped around Saturn’s northern hemisphere. The images were obtained with the Cassini spacecraft wide-angle camera on Oct. 17, 2012 at a distance of approximately 500,000 miles (800,000 kilometers) from Saturn. A short video about the end of the Cassini mission. The length of a day on Saturn: 10 hours, 33 minutes and 38 seconds. NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute . UPDATED September 15, 2017. Image … Rhea, Saturn’s second-largest moon, is nearly 1,000 miles wide and pocked with craters. Pocked with craters than previously understood it passes interested in Titan, Saturn s. But were not designed to search for microbes moon Titan provides details how! Also boasts a collection of exotic, and another spacecraft, scientists Titan... 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