Saturn’s Sailor: 20 Cassini Pictures Marking A Decade At The Ringed Planet

Tuesday, July 8, 2014

Saturn’s Sailor: 20 Cassini Pictures Marking A Decade At The Ringed Planet

Saturn’s Sailor: 20 Cassini Pictures Marking A Decade At The Ringed Planet:

Saturn’s northern storm marches through the planet’s atmosphere in the top right of this false-color mosaic from NASA’s Cassini spacecraft. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute

We’re spoiled, don’t you know? It was 10 years ago today that the Cassini spacecraft entered Saturn’s system, and it has been busily beaming back pictures of the ringed planet and its (many) moons ever since. We’ve learned more about seasons on Titan, investigated plumes on Enceladus, and examined phenomena such as auroras on Saturn.

Embedded in this story are 20 of our favourite pictures from Universe Today’s archive of Cassini discoveries, which you can check out below the jump.

It’s only a fraction of the more than 332,000 images received from the spacecraft, which is in excellent health and has seen its mission extended three times past its original 2008 expiry date. Additionally, more than 3,000 scientific papers have been generated. More cool stats in this NASA infographic.

And by the way, we’re not the only ones assembling memorable images to mark the anniversary. Check out NASA’s favourite Cassini pictures of the past decade, or our friend Phil Plait’s Bad Astronomy list. Also, here is NASA’s opinion of the top 10 discoveries at the ringed planet.

While thinking about Cassini, also don’t forget Huygens, the lander that descended to the surface of Titan in 2005. More on that in this past Universe Today anniversary story.

The full mosaic from the Cassini imaging team of Saturn on July 19, 2013… the “Day the Earth Smiled”

$In this unique mosaic image combining high-resolution data from the imaging science subsystem and composite infrared spectrometer aboard NASA's Cassini spacecraft, pockets of heat appear along one of the mysterious fractures in the south polar region of Saturn's moon Enceladus. Image credit: NASA/JPL/GSFC/SWRI/SSI$

In this unique mosaic image combining high-resolution data from the imaging science subsystem and composite infrared spectrometer aboard NASA’s Cassini spacecraft, pockets of heat appear along one of the mysterious fractures in the south polar region of Saturn’s moon Enceladus. Image credit: NASA/JPL/GSFC/SWRI/SSI

Saturn, imaged by Cassini on approach. Credit: CICLOPS

Titan and Dione as seen by Cassini. Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute

This image taken by the Cassini orbiter on Oct. 15, 2007, shows Saturn’s A and F rings, the small moon Epimetheus and smog-enshrouded Titan, the planet’s largest moon. The image is colorized to approximate the scene as it might appear to human eyes. (Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute)

Cassini imaging scientists used views like this one to help them identify the source locations for individual jets spurting ice particles, water vapor and trace organic compounds from the surface of Saturn’s moon Enceladus. Credit: NASA

Raw image from Cassini on May 18. Credit: NASA/JPL/SSI

Hemispheric color differences on Saturn’s moon Rhea are apparent in this false-color view from NASA’s Cassini spacecraft. This image shows the side of the moon that always faces the planet. Image Credit: NASA/JPL/SSI

Three of Saturn’s moons bunch together in this image by Cassini. Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute. Click for larger image.

This mosaic of Titan was created from the first flyby of the moon by Cassini in 2004. Credit: NASA/JPL/SS

Phoebe imaged by the Cassini spacecraft. Image Credit: NASA

Cassini VIMS image of specular reflections in one of Titan’s lakes from a flyby on July 24, 2012 (NASA/JPL-Caltech/SSI/Jason W. Barnes et al.)

A crescent Dione was seen by Cassini on January 29, 2011 from approximately 767,922 kilometers away. Credit: NASA/JPL/SSI

Rhea, as seen by Cassini. Credit: NASA

Cassini captured this startling image of Saturn’s moon Hyperion. Photo Credit: NASA/JPL

ets of water ice particles spew from Saturn’s moon Enceladus in this image obtained by NASA’s Cassini spacecraft on Aug. 13, 2010. Image credit: NASA/JPL/SSI

This false-color composite image shows Saturn’s rings and southern hemisphere. The composite image was made from 65 individual observations by Cassini’s visual and infrared mapping spectrometer in the near-infrared portion of the light spectrum on Nov. 1, 2008. Credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona

This mosaic of images from NASA’s Cassini spacecraft shows three fan-like structures in Saturn’s tenuous F ring. Such “fans” suggest the existence of additional objects in the F ring. Image credit: NASA/JPL/SSI

Cassini came within 25 kilometers (15.6 miles) of the surface of Enceladus on Oct. 5, 2008. Image credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute

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NASA Photos Photography

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is the United States government agency responsible for the civilian space program as well as aeronautics and aerospace research. President Dwight D. Eisenhower established the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in 1958 with a distinctly civilian (rather than military) orientation encouraging peaceful applications in space science. The National Aeronautics and Space Act was passed on July 29, 1958, disestablishing NASA's predecessor, the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA). The new agency became operational on October 1, 1958.

UFO SIGHTINGS PHOTO PHOTOGRAPHY

The Oxford English Dictionary defines a UFO as "An unidentified flying object; a 'flying saucer'." The first published book to use the word was authored by Donald E. Keyhoe. The acronym "UFO" was coined by Captain Edward J. Ruppelt, who headed Project Blue Book, then the USAF's official investigation of UFOs. He wrote, "Obviously the term 'flying saucer' is misleading when applied to objects of every conceivable shape and performance. For this reason the military prefers the more general, if less colorful, name: unidentified flying objects. UFO (pronounced Yoo-foe) for short." Other phrases that were used officially and that predate the UFO acronym include "flying flapjack", "flying disc", "unexplained flying discs", "unidentifiable object", and "flying saucer". The phrase "flying saucer" had gained widespread attention after the summer of 1947. On June 24, a civilian pilot named Kenneth Arnold reported seeing nine objects flying in formation near Mount Rainier. Arnold timed the sighting and estimated the speed of discs to be over 1,200 mph (1,931 km/h). At the time, he described the objects' shape as being somewhat disc-like or saucer-like, leading to newspaper accounts of "flying saucers" and "flying discs". In popular usage the term UFO came to be used to refer to claims of alien spacecraft. and because of the public and media ridicule associated with the topic, some investigators prefer to use such terms as unidentified aerial phenomenon (or UAP) or anomalous phenomena, as in the title of the National Aviation Reporting Center on Anomalous Phenomena (NARCAP).

UFO PHOTO PHOTOGRAPHY

UFO - Unidentified Flying Object An unidentified flying object, or UFO, in its most general definition, is any apparent anomaly in the sky that is not identifiable as a known object or phenomenon. Culturally, UFOs are associated with claims of visitation by extraterrestrial life or government-related conspiracy theories, and have become popular subjects in fiction. While UFOs are often later identified, sometimes identification may not be possible owing to the usually low quality of evidence related to UFO sightings (generally anecdotal evidence and eyewitness accounts). Stories of fantastical celestial apparitions have been told since antiquity, but the term "UFO" (or "UFOB") was officially created in 1953 by the United States Air Force (USAF) to serve as a catch-all for all such reports. In its initial definition, the USAF stated that a "UFOB" was "any airborne object which by performance, aerodynamic characteristics, or unusual features, does not conform to any presently known aircraft or missile type, or which cannot be positively identified as a familiar object." Accordingly, the term was initially restricted to that fraction of cases which remained unidentified after investigation, as the USAF was interested in potential national security reasons and/or "technical aspects" (see Air Force Regulation 200-2). During the late 1940s and through the 1950s, UFOs were often referred to popularly as "flying saucers" or "flying discs". The term UFO became more widespread during the 1950s, at first in technical literature, but later in popular use. UFOs garnered considerable interest during the Cold War, an era associated with a heightened concern for national security. Various studies have concluded that the phenomenon does not represent a threat to national security nor does it contain anything worthy of scientific pursuit (e.g., 1951 Flying Saucer Working Party, 1953 CIA Robertson Panel, USAF Project Blue Book, Condon Committee).

Photos of Nature | Nature Photography What is The Universe

Photos of Nature | Nature Photography What is The Universe

Tuesday, July 8, 2014