• Slide 1 of 23: The view is a mosaic of 36 images -- that is, 12 separate sets of red, green and blue images -- taken over the course of about 2.5 hours, as Cassini scanned across the entire main ring system.
  • Slide 2 of 23: This NASA Cassini Spacecraft image released 23 November, 2004 shows a dazzling view of gigantic storms near Saturn's south pole and one of Saturn's moons Tethys (1,060 kilometers, or 659 miles, across). Clouds and ribbons of gas swirl about in the planet's atmosphere in the foreground, while a tremendous chasm is visible on the icy moon. The image was taken at a distance of 3.9 million kilometers (2.4 million miles) from Saturn. The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency.
  • Slide 3 of 23: This NASA Cassini Spacecraft image obtained 24 November, 2004 shows Saturn's icy moon Tethys. The battered surface of Tethys (1,060 kilometers, or 659 miles across) has a neutral hue. The image here is a mosaic of two footprints. Three images taken in the red, green and blue filters were taken to form a natural color composite. The result reveals a world nearly saturated with craters - many small craters lie on top of older, larger ones, suggesting an ancient surface. At the top and along the boundary between day and night, the moon's terrain has a grooved appearance. This moon is known to have a density very close to that of water, indicating it is likely composed mainly of water ice. Its frozen mysteries await Cassini's planned close flyby in September 2005.
  • Slide 4 of 23: A combined image of Saturn's polar aurora taken on three different days.
  • Slide 5 of 23: This view of Titan, the largest of Saturn's 56 known moons, was taken on 26 December 2005 and reveals structure in the moon's complex atmosphere. The view has been greatly contrast-enhanced and shows intriguing structure in the north of Titan (5,150 kilometres across). The colour view was created by combining images taken using red, green and blue spectral filters. The images were taken with the Cassini spacecraft wide-angle camera, at a distance of approximately 193,000 kilometres from Titan and at a Sun-Titan-spacecraft, or phase, angle of 29 degrees. The image scale is 11 kilometres per pixel. The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency.
  • Slide 6 of 23: This image made by the Cassini spacecraft and provided by NASA on March 12, 2006, shows two of Saturn's moons, the small Epimetheus and smog-enshrouded Titan, with Saturn's A and F rings stretching across the frame. Launched in 1997, Cassini reached Saturn in 2004 and has been exploring it from orbit ever since. Cassini’s fuel tank is almost empty, so NASA has opted for a risky, but science-rich grand finale.
  • Slide 7 of 23: This marvelous panoramic view was created by combining a total of 165 images taken by the Cassini wide-angle camera over nearly three hours on Sept. 15, 2006.
  • Slide 8 of 23: The image was taken with the Cassini spacecraft wide-angle camera using a combination of spectral filters sensitive to wavelengths of infrared light centered at 728 (red channel), 752 (blue channel) and 890 (green channel) nanometers. The view was acquired on April 5, 2007 at a distance of approximately 1.5 million kilometers (900,000 miles) from Saturn. Image scale is 84 kilometers (52 miles) per pixel.
  • Slide 9 of 23: In this image constructed from data collected in the near-infrared wavelengths of light, the auroral emission is shown in green. Scientists designated blue to indicate sunlight reflected at wavelengths from 2 to 3 microns, green to indicate light from hydrogen ions at wavelengths between 3 and 4 microns and red to indicate thermal emission at 5 microns. Saturn's rings and high altitude haze only reflect sunlight at 3 microns or less, so they appear deep blue. The glow from the aurora can only be seen at the wavelengths in the green channel. The heat emission from the interior of Saturn is only seen at 5 microns wavelength in the spectrometer data, and thus appears red. The dark spots and banded features in the image are clouds and small storms that outline the deeper weather systems and circulation patterns of the planet. They are illuminated from underneath by Saturn's thermal emission, and thus appear in silhouette.
  • Slide 10 of 23: A view of Saturn's moon, Enceladus.
  • Slide 11 of 23: The Cassini spacecraft observes three of Saturn's moons set against the darkened night side of the planet. Rhea, Enceladus and Dione.
  • Slide 12 of 23: The sponge-like surface of Saturn's moon Hyperion is highlighted in this Cassini portrait.
  • Slide 13 of 23: A giant of a moon appears before a giant of a planet undergoing seasonal changes in this natural color view of Titan and Saturn from NASA's Cassini spacecraft.
  • Slide 14 of 23: Images taken using infrared, red and violet spectral filters were combined to create this enhanced-color view. The images were obtained with the Cassini spacecraft wide-angle camera on Oct. 17, 2012 at a distance of approximately 500,000 miles (800,000 kilometers) from Saturn. Image scale at Saturn is about 30 miles per pixel (50 kilometers per pixel).
  • Slide 15 of 23: In this handout image released on April 30, 2013 by NASA, the spinning vortex of Saturn's north polar storm is seen from NASA's Cassini spacecraft on November 27, 2012 in the Saturnian system of space. The false-color image of the storm resembles a red rose surrounded by green foliage which was made by using a combination of spectral filters sensitive to wavelengths of near-infrared light at a distance of approximately 261,000 miles from Saturn.
  • Slide 16 of 23: This view is centered on Saturn's north pole. North is up and rotated 33 degrees to the left. The image was taken with the Cassini spacecraft wide-angle camera on June 14, 2013 using a spectral filter sensitive to wavelengths of near-infrared light centered at 752 nanometers.
  • Slide 17 of 23: In this handout image provided by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Dione (L) and Epimetheus (R) are seen above the sunlit side of the rings in visible light and taken with the Cassini spacecraft wide-angle camera on April 2, 2016. Between April and September 2017, Cassini will plunge repeatedly through the gap that separates the planet from the rings. The Cassini mission is a cooperative project of NASA, ESA (the European Space Agency) and the Italian Space Agency.
  • Slide 18 of 23: In this handout image provided by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the shadow of Saturn on the rings is seen in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft wide-angle camera on May 21, 2016. The moon Mimas is seen near the lower left. The view was obtained at a distance of approximately 2.0 million miles from Saturn. Between April and September 2017, Cassini will plunge repeatedly through the gap that separates the planet from the rings. The Cassini mission is a cooperative project of NASA, ESA (the European Space Agency) and the Italian Space Agency.
  • Slide 19 of 23: In this handout image provided by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the hexagon-shaped jet stream around the planet's north pole is seen and was taken with the Cassini spacecraft wide-angle camera on Dec. 3, 2016, at a distance of about 240,000 miles from Saturn. Between April and September 2017, Cassini will plunge repeatedly through the gap that separates the planet from the rings. The Cassini mission is a cooperative project of NASA, ESA (the European Space Agency) and the Italian Space Agency.
  • Slide 20 of 23: In this handout image provided by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the wavemaker moon, Daphnis, is featured in this view, taken as NASA's Cassini spacecraft made one of its ring-grazing passes over the outer edges of Saturn's rings on Jan. 16, 2017. Daphnis (5 miles across) orbits within the 26-mile wide Keeler Gap. Between April and September 2017, Cassini will plunge repeatedly through the gap that separates the planet from the rings. The Cassini mission is a cooperative project of NASA, ESA (the European Space Agency) and the Italian Space Agency.
  • Slide 21 of 23: In this handout image provided by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Saturn's sunlit face is visible in this view from the vantage point just beneath the unilluminated side beneath the ring plane and taken in green light with the Cassini spacecraft wide-angle camera on Jan. 18, 2017. The view was acquired at a distance of approximately 630,000 miles from Saturn. Between April and September 2017, Cassini will plunge repeatedly through the gap that separates the planet from the rings. The Cassini mission is a cooperative project of NASA, ESA (the European Space Agency) and the Italian Space Agency.
  • Slide 22 of 23: In this handout image provided by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the planet Saturn's 'Death Star' moon Mimas is shown from a distance of approximately 28,000 miles (45,000 kilometers), taken by NASA's spacecraft Cassini-Huygens in its closest approach to the pock-marked moon on January 30, 2017. The lighting, reflected from Saturn, has been enhanced by NASA. Cassini is nearing the end of its nearly 20-year mission.
  • Slide 23 of 23: This montage of views from NASA's Cassini spacecraft shows three of Saturn's small ring moons: Atlas, Daphnis and Pan at the same scale for ease of comparison.
Slide 1 of 23: The view is a mosaic of 36 images -- that is, 12 separate sets of red, green and blue images -- taken over the course of about 2.5 hours, as Cassini scanned across the entire main ring system.
Full Screen
1/23 SLIDES © NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute
On Sept. 15, 2017, Nasa’s Cassini spacecraft will end its historic 20-year mission of exploring Saturn. In its "Grand Finale" phase, the spacecraft will enter Saturn's atmosphere by passing through the gaps between the planet and its inner rings. It will continue to collect data before entering Saturn's atmosphere following which it will burn and disintegrate like a meteor. Click on to see some amazing images of the planet and its moons taken during the mission.
(Pictured) A mosaic of 36 images taken over the course of two-and-half hours on Jan. 19, 2007, shows Saturn's entire main ring system.
Click or swipe to view more images taken by Cassini
2/23 SLIDES © HO/AFP/Getty Images

Nov. 23, 2004

The unmanned spacecraft was named after the 17th century Italian astronomer Giovanni Cassini.
(Pictured) A view of gigantic storms near Saturn’s south pole and one of its moons Tethys. Clouds and ribbons of gas swirl about in the planet's atmosphere in the foreground while a tremendous chasm is visible on the icy moon.
3/23 SLIDES © HO/AFP/Getty Images

Nov. 24, 2004


This NASA Cassini Spacecraft image obtained 24 November, 2004 shows Saturn's icy moon Tethys.
The battered surface of Tethys (1,060 kilometers, or 659 miles across) has a neutral hue. The image here is a mosaic of two footprints.
Three images taken in the red, green and blue filters were taken to form a natural color composite. The result reveals a world nearly saturated with craters - many small craters lie on top of older, larger ones, suggesting an ancient surface. At the top and along the boundary between day and night, the moon's terrain has a grooved appearance. This moon is known to have a density very close to that of water, indicating it is likely composed mainly of water ice. Its frozen mysteries await Cassini's planned close flyby in September 2005.
4/23 SLIDES © NASA/Hubble/Z. Levay and J. Clarke

Jan. 24-28, 2005

Over the years, the spacecraft has discovered numerous seasonal changes around Saturn including its magnetosphere, rings and moons.
(Pictured) A combined image of Saturn's polar aurora taken on three different days.
5/23 SLIDES © SSPL/Getty Images

Dec. 26, 2005

This view of Titan, the largest of Saturn's 56 known moons, was taken on 26 December 2005 and reveals structure in the moon's complex atmosphere.
The view has been greatly contrast-enhanced and shows intriguing structure in the north of Titan (5,150 kilometres across). The colour view was created by combining images taken using red, green and blue spectral filters.
The images were taken with the Cassini spacecraft wide-angle camera, at a distance of approximately 193,000 kilometres from Titan and at a Sun-Titan-spacecraft, or phase, angle of 29 degrees.
The image scale is 11 kilometres per pixel. The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency.
6/23 SLIDES © NASA/AP Photo

March 12, 2006

This image made by the Cassini spacecraft and provided by NASA on March 12, 2006, shows two of Saturn's moons, the small Epimetheus and smog-enshrouded Titan, with Saturn's A and F rings stretching across the frame.
Launched in 1997, Cassini reached Saturn in 2004 and has been exploring it from orbit ever since. Cassini's fuel tank is almost empty, so NASA has opted for a risky, but science-rich grand finale.
7/23 SLIDES © NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute

Sept. 15, 2006

This marvelous panoramic view was created by combining a total of 165 images taken by the Cassini wide-angle camera over nearly three hours on Sept. 15, 2006.
8/23 SLIDES © NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute

April 5, 2007

The image was taken with the Cassini spacecraft wide-angle camera using a combination of spectral filters sensitive to wavelengths of infrared light centered at 728 (red channel), 752 (blue channel) and 890 (green channel) nanometers.
The view was acquired on April 5, 2007 at a distance of approximately 1.5 million kilometers (900,000 miles) from Saturn.
Image scale is 84 kilometers (52 miles) per pixel.
9/23 SLIDES © NASA/SSPL/Getty Images

Nov. 1, 2008

In this image constructed from data collected in the near-infrared wavelengths of light, the auroral emission is shown in green.
Scientists designated blue to indicate sunlight reflected at wavelengths from 2 to 3 microns, green to indicate light from hydrogen ions at wavelengths between 3 and 4 microns and red to indicate thermal emission at 5 microns.
Saturn's rings and high altitude haze only reflect sunlight at 3 microns or less, so they appear deep blue.
The glow from the aurora can only be seen at the wavelengths in the green channel. The heat emission from the interior of Saturn is only seen at 5 microns wavelength in the spectrometer data, and thus appears red.
The dark spots and banded features in the image are clouds and small storms that outline the deeper weather systems and circulation patterns of the planet.
They are illuminated from underneath by Saturn's thermal emission, and thus appear in silhouette.
10/23 SLIDES © NASA/AP Photo

June 28, 2009

An image of Saturn's moon, Enceladus.
11/23 SLIDES © Universal History Archive/UIG via Getty Images

June 20, 2011

12/23 SLIDES © Universal History Archive/UIG via Getty Images

Sept. 16, 2011

The sponge-like surface of Saturn's Hyperion moon.
13/23 SLIDES © NASA/Handout/Corbis via Getty Images

Aug. 29, 2012

A view of Titan in front of the planet.
14/23 SLIDES © NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute

Oct. 17, 2012

Images taken using spectral filters were combined to create this enhanced-color view of the planet.
15/23 SLIDES © NASA via Getty Images

Nov. 27, 2012

The spinning vortex of Saturn’s north polar storm is seen from the spacecraft.
The false-color image of the storm was made by using a combination of spectral filters sensitive to wavelengths of near-infrared light at approximately 261,000 miles (420,038.7 km) from Saturn.
16/23 SLIDES © NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute

June 14, 2013

This view is centered on Saturn's north pole. North is up and rotated 33 degrees to the left.
The image was taken with the Cassini spacecraft wide-angle camera on June 14, 2013 using a spectral filter sensitive to wavelengths of near-infrared light centered at 752 nanometers.
17/23 SLIDES © NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute via Getty Images

April 2, 2016

In this handout image provided by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Dione (L) and Epimetheus (R) are seen above the sunlit side of the rings in visible light and taken with the Cassini spacecraft wide-angle camera on April 2, 2016.
Between April and September 2017, Cassini will plunge repeatedly through the gap that separates the planet from the rings.
The Cassini mission is a cooperative project of NASA, ESA (the European Space Agency) and the Italian Space Agency.
18/23 SLIDES © NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute via Getty Images

May 21, 2016

In this handout image provided by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the shadow of Saturn on the rings is seen in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft wide-angle camera on May 21, 2016.
The moon Mimas is seen near the lower left. The view was obtained at a distance of approximately 2.0 million miles from Saturn.
Between April and September 2017, Cassini will plunge repeatedly through the gap that separates the planet from the rings.
The Cassini mission is a cooperative project of NASA, ESA (the European Space Agency) and the Italian Space Agency.
19/23 SLIDES © NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute via Getty Images

Dec. 3, 2016

The hexagon-shaped jet stream around the planet’s north pole is seen in the image, which was taken with the Cassini spacecraft’s wide-angle camera 240,000 miles (386,242.5 km) from Saturn.
20/23 SLIDES © NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute via Getty Images

Jan. 16, 2017

The inner satellite, Daphnis, is seen in this image taken from the spacecraft while making a ring-grazing pass.
21/23 SLIDES © NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute via Getty Images

Jan. 18, 2017

Saturn's sunlit face is visible in this image taken approximately 630,000 miles (1,013,886 km) from Saturn.
22/23 SLIDES © NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute via Getty Images

Jan. 30, 2017

The planet’s moon, Mimas, is photographed approximately 28,000 miles (45,000 km) from Saturn.
23/23 SLIDES © NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute

June 28, 2017

A montage of Saturn’s three small ring moons called Atlas, Daphnis and Pan.
23/23 SLIDES