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NASA’s Cassini Reveals The Full Glory Of Saturn’s Rings (Synopsis) [Starts With A Bang]
“This then, I thought, as I looked round about me, is the representation of history. It requires a falsification of perspective. We, the survivors, see everything from above, see everything at once, and still we do not know how it was.” -W.G. Sebald
In the 1600s, the earliest telescopes saw that Saturn had “ears,” while later observers all the way back then finally saw their true nature: a ringed system with complex gaps, bands and colorations throughout. Since then, Saturn’s rings have been a source of wonder and puzzlement to skywatchers everywhere. The only ring system visible through most telescopes from Earth, Saturn’s main rings measure more than 70,000 km long, yet are no more than 1 km in thickness.
Image credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute.
Once thought to have only two gaps in them, the Cassini spacecraft has revealed over a thousand, teaching us that Saturn’s rings are ancient — likely as old as the planet itself — and will likely continue to exist for as long as our Sun shines.
Image credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute, of Saturn’s E-ring, with Enceladus as the brightest spot.
Source: http://scienceblogs.com/startswithabang/2016/04/11/nasas-cassini-reveals-the-full-glory-of-saturns-rings-synopsis/
