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(Photo courtesy NASA)SALT LAKE CITY -- Several stunning images of Saturn taken by Nasa's Cassini spacecraft show the ringed planet, its moons and rings in the most incredible detail yet.
Extraordinary glimpses of the planet's atmosphere and surfaces add to our expanding understanding of the sixth planet in the solar system, as the Equinox mission approaches its second year.
The images show the incredible differences within the Saturn system. In one image, serene-looking rings are elegantly stacked up around its equator, making a striking contrast to the cratered appearance of its plethora of moons.
‘Some of the mission highlights so far include discovering that Titan (Saturn's largest moon) has Earth-like processes and that the small moon Enceladus has a hot-spot at its southern pole - jets on the surface that spew out ice crystals and evidence of liquid water beneath its surface.'
The Cassini spacecraft first blasted off from Earth in 1999. In the first five years of its illuminating voyage, it photographed the moon, Mars and Jupiter, only approaching Saturn on June 30, 2004.
The first close-up study of the ringed planet, which ended in June last year, provided such opportunities for exploration and discovery that the space agency extended it for another two years.
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Story compiled with articles from NASA and NASA's Jet Propulsion Labs.
