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Saturn's rings

author: Nasa/JPL/SSI/Novapix

reference: a-sat05-10009

Image Size 300 DPI: 12 * 12 cm

The dark Cassini Division, within Saturn's rings, contains a great deal of structure, as seen in this color image. The sharp inner boundary of the division (left of center) is the outer edge of the massive B ring and is maintained by the gravitational influence of the moon Mimas.
Spectroscopic observations by Cassini indicate that the Cassini Division, similar to the C ring, contains more contaminated ice than do the B and A rings on either side.
This view is centered on a region approximately 118,500 kilometers (73,600 miles) from Saturn's center. (Saturn is 120,500-kilometers-wide (74,900 miles) at its equator.) From left to right, the image spans approximately 11,000 kilometers (6,800 miles) across the ringplane.
Images taken using red, green and blue spectral filters were combined to create this view, which approximates what the human eye might see. The image was taken with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on May 18, 2005, at a distance of approximately 1.6 million kilometers (1 million miles) from Saturn. The image scale is 9 kilometers (6 miles) per pixel.

Keywords for this photo:

2005 - ASTRONOMY - CASSINI - ICE - PLANET - RING - SATURN -