Cassini's continued mission

NASA's Cassini spacecraft is now a nearly a year into its extended mission, called Cassini Equinox (after its initial 4-year mission ended in June, 2008). The spacecraft continues to operate in good health, returning amazing images of Saturn, its ring system and moons, and providing new information and science on a regular basis. The mission's name, "Equinox" comes from the upcoming Saturnian equinox in August, 2009, when its equator (and rings) will point directly toward the Sun. The Equinox mission runs through September of 2010, with the possibility of further extensions beyond that. Collected here are 24 more intriguing images from our ringed neighbor. (previously: 1, 2) (24 photos total)

Saturn's northern hemisphere is seen here against its nested rings. The rings have been brightened relative to the planet to enhance visibility. Images taken using red, green and blue spectral filters were combined to create this natural color view. The images were acquired with the Cassini spacecraft wide-angle camera on Feb. 24, 2009 at a distance of approximately 866,000 km (538,000 mi) from Saturn. Image scale is 38 km (24 mi) per pixel. (NASA/JPL/SSI) #

Gray Mimas appears to hover above the colorful rings. The large crater seen on the right side of the moon is named for William Herschel, who discovered Mimas in 1789. Images taken using red, green and blue spectral filters were combined to create this natural color view. The images were acquired on Sept. 9, 2007 at a distance of approximately 3.151 million km (1.958 million mi) from Mimas. Image scale is 19 km (12 mi) per pixel. (NASA/JPL/SSI) #

Cassini peers through the fine, smoke-sized ice particles of Saturn's F ring toward the cratered face of Mimas (396 km/246 mi wide). The F ring's core is dense enough to completely block the light from Mimas. The image was taken on Nov. 18, 2007 at a distance of approximately 772,000 km (480,000 mi) from Mimas. Image scale is 5 km (3 mi) per pixel on the moon. (NASA/JPL/SSI) #

Cassini looks toward Rhea's cratered, icy landscape with the dark line of Saturn's ringplane and the planet's murky atmosphere as a background. Rhea is Saturn's second-largest moon, at 1,528 km (949 mi) across. Images taken using red, green and blue spectral filters were combined to create this natural color view. The images were acquired on July 17, 2007 at a distance of approximately 1.2 million km (770,000 mi) from Rhea. Image scale is 7 km (5 mi) per pixel. (NASA/JPL/SSI) #

Small, battered Epimetheus before Saturn's A and F rings, and and smog-enshrouded Titan (5,150 km/3,200 mi wide) beyond. The color information in the colorized view is artificial: it is derived from red, green and blue images taken at nearly the same time and phase angle as the clear filter image. This color information was overlaid onto a previously released clear filter view in order to approximate the scene as it might appear to human eyes. The view was acquired on April 28, 2006, at a distance of approximately 667,000 km (415,000 mi) from Epimetheus and 1.8 million km (1.1 million mi) from Titan. The image scale is 4 km (2 mi) per pixel on Epimetheus and 11 km (7 mi) per pixel on Titan. (NASA/JPL/SSI) #

Against a background of muted atmospheric bands in Saturn's northern hemisphere, Mimas forges onward in its orbit around the Ringed Planet. Aside from the large crater Herschel, all features on Mimas are named after people and places in Arthurian legend or the legends of the Titans. In fact, the largest crater near the terminator in this view is named Arthur (64 km, 40 mi across). The image was taken on Nov. 26, 2008 at a distance of approximately 915,000 km (569,000 mi) from Mimas. Image scale is 5 km (3 mi) per pixel. (NASA/JPL/SSI) #

The terminator engulfs Penelope (foreground), one of the largest craters on Saturn's moon, Tethys. The image was taken on Nov. 24, 2008 at a distance of approximately 62,000 km (38,000 mi) from Tethys. Image scale is 366 meters (1,202 feet) per pixel. (NASA/JPL/SSI) #

Numerous stars provide a serene background in this view of Enceladus captured by the Cassini spacecraft while the moon was in eclipse, within Saturn's shadow. The view looks up at Enceladus' south pole. The image was taken on Oct. 9, 2008 at a distance of approximately 83,000 km (52,000 mi) from Enceladus. Image scale is 5 km (3 mi) per pixel. (NASA/JPL/SSI) #

This image was taken during Cassini's close approach to the moon Iapetus in Sept. 2007. The image was taken on Sept. 10, 2007 with the Cassini spacecraft wide-angle camera at a distance of approximately 3,870 km (2,400 mi) from Iapetus. Image scale is 230 meters (755 feet) per pixel. (NASA/JPL/SSI) #

Rhea passes in front of Saturn's larger, hazy moon Titan (which is lit from behind by the sun) in June of 2006. (NASA/JPL/SSI) #

Rhea (1,528 km/949 mi wide) drifts in front of Saturn. The view was acquired at a distance of approximately 576,000 km (358,000 mi) from Rhea. Image scale is 3 km (2 mi) per pixel. (NASA/JPL/SSI) #


This natural color mosaic was acquired by the Cassini spacecraft as it soared 39 degrees above the unilluminated side of Saturn's rings. Little light makes its way through the rings to be scattered in Cassini's direction in this viewing geometry, making the rings appear somewhat dark compared to the reflective surface of Saturn (120,536 km/74,898 mi across). The view combines 45 images taken over the course of about two hours, as Cassini scanned across the entire main ring system. The images in this view were obtained on May 9, 2007 at a distance of approximately 1.1 million kilometers (700,000 miles) from Saturn. (NASA/JPL/SSI)

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