Image: The colors in Saturn's rings

Image: The colors in Saturn's rings
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute

Saturn's rings display their subtle colors in this view captured on Aug. 22, 2009, by NASA's Cassini spacecraft. The particles that make up the rings range in size from smaller than a grain of sand to as large as mountains, and are mostly made of water ice. The exact nature of the material responsible for bestowing color on the rings remains a matter of intense debate among scientists.

Images taken using red, green and blue spectral filters were combined to create this natural color view. Cassini's narrow-angle camera took the images at a distance of approximately 1.27 million miles (2.05 million kilometers) from the center of the rings.

The Cassini spacecraft ended its mission on Sept. 15, 2017.

Provided by NASA

Citation: Image: The colors in Saturn's rings (2018, April 25) retrieved 29 March 2024 from https://phys.org/news/2018-04-image-saturn.html
This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no part may be reproduced without the written permission. The content is provided for information purposes only.

Explore further

Image: Veil of ice in Saturn's rings

28 shares

Feedback to editors