Saturn's Nightside

Yet another Cassini stunner from JPL:

This rare color view of Saturn's night side shows how the rings dimly illuminate the southern hemisphere, giving it a dull golden glow. Part of the northern dark side is just visible at top -- the illumination it receives being far less than the south.

The unlit side of the rings is shown here. The portion of the rings closest to Cassini is within the dark shadow of Saturn; the bright distant portion is outside the planet's shadow.

A crescent Tethys (1,071 kilometers, or 665 miles across) appears below the rings at left.

What a gorgeous, gorgeous thing. What a wonderful place we live in - and how marvellous that science is giving us the chance to see it.

Here's the Cassini-Huygens Home page