Astronomy Picture of the Day
Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
written by a professional astronomer.
2024 June 23
Saturn is shown taking up most of the frame. Most of the planet appears
a banded gold. A thin line that is the rings appears dark brown and
runs diagonally from the lower left. The upper part has dark bands
which are shadows and behind the shadows the color of Saturn's
atmosphere appears blue. Please see the explanation for more detailed
information.
The Colors of Saturn from Cassini
Image Credit: NASA, ESA, JPL, ISS, Cassini Imaging Team; Processing &
License: Judy Schmidt
Explanation: What creates Saturn's colors? The featured picture of
Saturn only slightly exaggerates what a human would see if hovering
close to the giant ringed world. The image was taken in 2005 by the
robot Cassini spacecraft that orbited Saturn from 2004 to 2017. Here
Saturn's majestic rings appear directly only as a curved line,
appearing brown, in part from its infrared glow. The rings best show
their complex structure in the dark shadows they create across the
upper part of the planet. The northern hemisphere of Saturn can appear
partly blue for the same reason that Earth's skies can appear blue --
molecules in the cloudless portions of both planet's atmospheres are
better at scattering blue light than red. When looking deep into
Saturn's clouds, however, the natural gold hue of Saturn's clouds
becomes dominant. It is not known why southern Saturn does not show the
same blue hue -- one hypothesis holds that clouds are higher there. It
is also not known why some of Saturn's clouds are colored gold.
Tomorrow's picture: farthest galaxy
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Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
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A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.
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