卡西尼号从土星往外看

2022年12月23日

Cassini Looks Out from Saturn
Image Credit: NASA, JPL-Caltech, Space Science Institute

Explanation: This is what Saturn looks like from inside the rings. In 2017, for the first time, NASA directed the Cassini spacecraft to swoop between Saturn and its rings. During the dive, the robotic spacecraft took hundreds of images showing unprecedented detail for structures in Saturn’s atmosphere. Looking back out, however, the spacecraft was also able to capture impressive vistas. In the featured image, taken a few hours before closest approach, Saturn’s unusual northern hexagon is seen surrounding the North Pole. Saturn’s B ring is the closest visible, while the dark Cassini Division separates B from the outer A. A close inspection will find the two small moons that shepherd the F-ring, the farthest ring discernable. A few months after this image was taken — and after more than a decade of exploration and discovery — the Cassini spacecraft ran low on fuel and was directed to enter Saturn’s atmosphere, where it surely melted.

Tomorrow’s picture: the night before

卡西尼号从土星往外看
图像提供: NASA, JPL-Caltech, Space Science Institute

说明: 这是从土星环内侧所见到的土星。2017年，NASA的卡西尼号飞船首次穿过土星与土星环之间；在俯冲的过程中，这艘飞船拍下数百张照片，记录了土星大气结构前所未见的细节。在往外眺望时，飞船也拍摄了许多引人惊叹的景观。在上面这幅摄于最近点前数小时的主题图像里，可见到环拱土星北极的不寻常六角云。在土星环之中，最邻近可见的是B环，以及分隔B环与外侧A环的黝黑卡西尼环缝。如再仔细检视，最远可见的是最外侧的F环及守护它的二颗牧羊犬卫星。在拍下这幅图像的数个月之后，已执行了10多年探索与发现任务的卡西尼号飞船，几乎耗尽了燃料，因此受命跃入土星的大气，最后必然熔化在其中。

明日的图片: pixels in space