SETI bioastro: Fw: Saturn's Rings Offer A Fresco Of Color

From: LARRY KLAES (ljk4_at_msn.com)
Date: Thu Jul 22 2004 - 09:24:43 PDT

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    ----- Original Message -----
    From: NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory<mailto:info_at_jpl.nasa.gov>
    To: ljk4_at_msn.com<mailto:ljk4_at_msn.com>
    Sent: Thursday, July 22, 2004 12:09 PM
    Subject: Saturn's Rings Offer A Fresco Of Color

    MEDIA RELATIONS OFFICE
    JET PROPULSION LABORATORY
    CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
    NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION
    PASADENA, CALIF. 91109. TELEPHONE (818) 354-5011
    http://jpl.convio.net/site/R?i=QeFtlLWqdZhO-3BCLCXxIg>..
     
    http://jpl.convio.net/site/R?i=Vi8InLsS3FpO-3BCLCXxIg>..

    Carolina Martinez (818) 354-9382
    Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.

    Heidi Finn (720) 974-5859
    Cassini Imaging Central Laboratory for Operations
    Space Science Institute, Boulder, Colo.

    Image Advisory: 2004-185 July 22, 2004

    Saturn's Rings Offer A Fresco Of Color

    With shimmering pinks, hues of gray and a hint of brown, a newly
    released image of Saturn's rings resembles a fresco where nature is
    the painter. The Cassini spacecraft captured this exquisite natural
    color view a few days before entering orbit around Saturn.

    The images that make up this composition were obtained from Cassini's
    vantage point beneath the ring plane with the narrow angle camera on
    June 21, 2004. The image was taken at a distance of 6.4 million
    kilometers (4 million miles) from Saturn.

    The brightest part of the rings, curving from the upper right to the
    lower left in the image, is the B ring. Many bands throughout the B
    ring have a pronounced sandy color. Other color variations across the
    rings can be seen. Color variations in Saturn's rings have previously
    been seen in Voyager and Hubble Space Telescope images. Cassini images
    show that color variations in the rings are more distinct in this
    viewing geometry than they are when seen from Earth.

    Saturn's rings are made primarily of water ice. Since pure water ice
    is white, it is believed that different colors in the rings reflect
    different amounts of contamination by other materials, such as rock or
    carbon compounds. In conjunction with information from other Cassini
    instruments, Cassini images will help scientists determine the
    composition of Saturn's ring system.

    In the 1980s, two Voyager spacecraft flew by Saturn as did Pioneer 11
    in 1979. Those fly-by missions raised tantalizing questions that can
    now be addressed by Cassini's planned four year tour. Scientists have
    waited 25 years for an opportunity to answer these questions.

    The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the
    European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion
    Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in
    Pasadena, manages the Cassini-Huygens mission for NASA's Office of
    Space Science, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter and its two
    onboard cameras were designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The
    imaging team is based at the Space Science Institute, Boulder, Colo.

    For this and other images and information about the Cassini-Huygens
    mission, visit
    http://jpl.convio.net/site/R?i=IEPwAuf1XqdO-3BCLCXxIg>.. and
    http://jpl.convio.net/site/R?i=AqPQojc221RO-3BCLCXxIg>.. . Images are also available at the
    Cassini imaging team home page,
    http://jpl.convio.net/site/R?i=HTgmMO4VgaZO-3BCLCXxIg>.. .
     
    http://jpl.convio.net/site/R?i=Ay7Hu0pkvSNO-3BCLCXxIg>..
     
    http://jpl.convio.net/site/R?i=G01t1VX_PA1O-3BCLCXxIg>..

    Image credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute
    -end-


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