A new picture of the Saturn has been released by NASA along with its
characteristic rings. The picture is a work of amateur image processor
Gordan Ugarkovic, who used pictures taken by the space agency’s Cassini
spacecraft. The mind boggling pictures of Saturn with its characteristic
rings were taken by the Cassini spacecraft on Oct. 10.
The cluster of pictures includes 12 image footprints through red,
blue and green filters. These filters are a part of the Cassini’s
imaging system. The images have not been geometrically corrected for the
shifts in the spacecraft perception.
The Cassini program started in the right earnest in 2004 when it
entered the orbit around Saturn. After entering the orbit it started the
first close study of the ringed planet. The probe was built for a four
year mission has got two extensions- Cassini Equinox Mission, and the
Cassini Solstice Mission.
The scientists were excited about Titan which is Saturn’s largest
moon and has a close resemblance to how Earth must have looked just
before the arrival of life. The Cassini probe plunged through the moon’s
dense atmosphere and along with it would have collected enough data to
which will be pored upon in the coming years. Many researchers believe
that Titan is home to many of the same features seen on Earth like
mountains, lakes, rivers, channels, rain, snow, dunes, and possibly
volcanoes.
Linda Spilker, Cassini project scientist, said in a statement, “We’re
looking at a string of remarkable discoveries — about Saturn’s
magnificent rings, its amazing moons, its dynamic magnetosphere and
about Titan’s surface and atmosphere. Some of the mission highlights so
far include discovering that Titan has Earth-like processes and that the
small moon Enceladus has a hot-spot at its southern pole, jets on the
surface that spew out ice crystals and evidence of liquid water beneath
its surface.” Source:pentagonpost.com
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