Untitled // Ella Olafsen

Tampere // Juuso Hämäläinen

Saturn Casts Shrinking Shadow Over Rings in NASA Photo

On Earth, the change of the seasons can be marked by the length of the shadows cast by the sun. This approach also works on Saturn, where the shadow of the massive planet grows shorter each day.

A new photo from the Cassini probe shows the shadow of Saturn blanketing a large section of the planet’s ring system. But back in 2007, Cassini images showed Saturn’s shadow stretching well beyond the edge of the rings. The shortening of the planet’s shadow will continue as Saturn approaches a solstice in May 2017. 

Read more ~ Space.com

Image:

The shadow of Saturn cast across the planet’s massive ring system, captured by the Cassini probe on May 21, 2016.    Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute                

Snowed // Dirk Dallas

Galileo’s Europa Remastered

Untitled

by: Rishad

Skeikampen

by: Sondre Eriksen

A photo of Saturn. Took by Cassini with COISS on September 17, 2007 at 08:33:22. Detail page on OPUS database.

Hillsboro, Oregon

by: Nick Verbelchuk

ghost