NASA Cassini Spacecraft Captures Saturn's Gauzy Rings in New Infrared Image

NASA's Cassini spacecraft has captured new images of Saturn's gauzy rings and the dark side of the planet.  The pictures reveal an infrared view of Saturn, backlit by the sun, which shows scientists a little bit more about the ringed planet.

"Looking at the Saturn system when it is backlit by the sun gives scientists a kind of inside-out view of Saturn that we don't normally see," said Matt Hedman, one of the researchers, in a news release. "The parts of Saturn's rings that are bright when you look at them from backyard telescopes on Earth are dark, and other parts that are typically dark glow brightly in this view."

In fact, it can be extremely difficult for researchers to get a decent view of the faint outer F, E and G rings of Saturn, or the inner ring known as the D ring. These rings are almost transparent and are composed of particles that do not reflect light well, which means that direct light can often make them completely invisible.

Yet this all changes when the rings are backlit, like they are in the new images. The particles show up like fog in the headlights of an oncoming vehicle instead of disappearing. The C ring also appears in this new image. While it's not made of dust, it's created from mostly dirty water ice. This translucent material easily shows in the backlit picture.

That's not all that NASA's Cassini has shown, though. Infrared images also reveal thermal radiation. While a visible-light image from this vantage point would simply show the face of the planet as dimly lit by sunlight reflected off the rings, Saturn glows brightly in this view because of heat from Saturn's interior.

"We're busy working on analyzing the infrared data from this special view of the Saturn system," said Phil Nicholson, a visual and infrared mapping spectrometer team member, in a news release. "The infrared data should tell us more about the sizes of the particles which make up the D, E, F and G rings, and how these sizes vary with location in the rings, as well as providing clues as to their chemical composition."

The findings should tell astronomers a bit more about Saturn's rings. Yet Cassini isn't through yet. It's been exploring the Saturn system for more than nine years, and will hopefully continue to make discoveries far into the future.

Want to learn more about the Cassini mission? Check out the NASA site here.