Saturn seen by the Cassini probe on 23/07/2008 - Saturn seen by Cassini spacecraft on...

Saturn seen by the Cassini probe on 23/07/2008 - Saturn seen by Cassini spacecraft on july 23 2008 - Saturn seen by the Cassini probe on 23 July 2008 at a distance of 1.1 million km from the planet. Mosaic of 30 images. Several satellites are visible in this image: Titan, Janus, Mimas, Pandora, Epimethee and Enceladus. As Saturn advances in its orbit toward equinox and the sun gradually moves northward on the planet, the motion of Saturn's ring shadows and the changing colors of its atmosphere continue to transform the face of Saturn as seen by Cassini. This captivating natural color view was created from images collected shortly after Cassini began its extended Equinox Mission in July 2008. This mosaic combines 30 images - - 10 each of red, green and blue light - - taken over the course of approximately two hours as Cassini panned its wide - angle camera across the entire planet and ring system on July 23, 2008, from a southerly elevation of 6 degrees. Six moons complete this constructed panorama: Titan (5,150 kilometers, or 3,200 miles, across), Janus (179 kilometers, or 111 miles, across), Mimas (396 kilometers, or 246 miles, across), Pandora (81 kilometers, or 50 miles, across), Epimetheus (113 kilometers, or 70 miles, across) and Enceladus (504 kilometers, or 313 miles, across). Nasa's Cassini spacecraft captured these images at a distance of approximately 1.1 million kilometers (690,000 miles) from Saturn and at a sun - Saturn - spacecraft, or phase, angle of 20 degrees. Image scale is 70 kilometers (43.6 miles) per pixel