images

Saturn's rings in ultraviolet

by

Nasa/JPL/SSI/Novapix

Reference

a-sat05-10000

Date

2006-10-03

Images taken during the Cassini spacecraft's orbital insertion on June 30 2004 show compositional variation in the A, B and C rings. From the inside out, the Cassini division in faint red at left is followed by the A ring in its entirety. The Cassini Division at left contains thinner, dirtier rings than the turquoise A ring, indicating a more icy composition. The red band roughly three-fourths of the way outward in the A ring is known as the Encke gap. The ring system begins from the inside out with the D, C, B and A rings followed by the F, G and E rings. The red in the image indicates sparser ringlets likely made of dirty, and possibly smaller, particles than in the icier turquoise ringlets.