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Saturn Moon and Rings
Rhea & Epimetheus
Product Description
PIA12638 -
While cruising around Saturn,
be on the lookout for picturesque juxtapositions of moons and rings.
Another
striking alignment
occurred last March in the view of humanity's
Saturn-orbiting
Cassini spacecraft.
Rhea,
one of Saturn's
larger moons,
was caught passing
Epimetheus,
one of
Saturn's smaller moons.
Epimetheus, as
pictured
above, is actually well behind the heavily cratered Rhea.
Further back, several of the
complex
rings of Saturn can be seen crossing the image horizontally.
Behind both the
moons
and rings is giant Saturn itself,
showing expansive but featureless clouds in the
green light where the above image was taken.
The Cassini mission around Saturn has now
been
extended to
2017
to better study the complex planetary system as its season changes from
equinox
to
solstice.
Credit: Cassini
Imaging Team,
ISS,
JPL,
ESA,
NASA
Text: APOD