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Stunning Views of Venus, All the Way from Saturn
Venus appears just off the edge of the dark disc of Saturn, in the upper part of the image, directly above the white streak of Saturn’s G ring. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute
Two amazing images from the Cassini spacecraft today: We know how brightly Venus shines in our own night sky; now here’s visual proof it shines brightly even in the skies above Saturn. In one image it shines so brightly that it is even visible looking through Saturn’s rings! But in this absolutely stunning shot, above, Venus appears as a morning star, just off the edge of the planet. From Cassini, you’re looking directly above the edge of Saturn’s G ring to see the white dot, which is Venus. Lower down, Saturn’s E ring makes an appearance, looking blue thanks to the scattering properties of the dust that comprises the ring. (A bright spot near the E ring is a distant star, the Cassin CICLOPS team says.)
This beautiful image was taken on January 4, 2013.
On average, Venus and Saturn are about 1,321,200,000 km (820,955,619 mi or 8.83 astronomical units) apart, so that’s a nice, long distance shot! Venus is brighter in Saturn’s skies than Earth, however, because Venus is covered in thick sulfuric acid clouds, making it very bright.
And here’s the other great shot, showing Saturn and its rings in true color:
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Read the rest of Stunning Views of Venus, All the Way from Saturn (88 words)
© nancy for Universe Today, 2013. |
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Post tags: Cassini, Saturn, Venus
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2013-03-04 10:16:36
Source: http://www.universetoday.com/100450/stunning-views-of-venus-all-the-way-from-saturn/
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