Categories: CassiniSaturnSolar SystemSpace Exploration

Sketches of Saturn: Ringed Planet Dances In Raw Cassini Images

A hexagonal storm on Saturn rages in this image taken July 2, 2014. Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute

We space people are very lucky to get glimpses of Saturn (and other planets!) regularly through the raw images feature on a few spacecraft websites. This allows anyone to get a hold of the pictures as they come back from afar, allowing you to view them or alter them to try and see what they’re all about.

In an era where we are so used to high-definition pictures, examining these blurry, black-and-white shots feels novel. It makes the spacecraft seem like it is action somehow: catching a glimpse of a ringed planet as it swings by, for example.

Enclosed here are some of the latest gifts from the Cassini spacecraft, which is celebrating 10 years in Saturn’s system.

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Part of Saturn’s rings are visible in this July 2, 2014 image from the Cassini spacecraft. Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute

Gazing at Saturn’s rings. Picture taken by the Cassini spacecraft June 30, 2014. Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute

A dark shadow falls across Saturn and its rings in this raw image taken by the Cassini spacecraft July 2, 2014. Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute

Eerie shadows play across Saturn in this Cassini image taken in June 2014. Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute

Elizabeth Howell

Elizabeth Howell is the senior writer at Universe Today. She also works for Space.com, Space Exploration Network, the NASA Lunar Science Institute, NASA Astrobiology Magazine and LiveScience, among others. Career highlights include watching three shuttle launches, and going on a two-week simulated Mars expedition in rural Utah. You can follow her on Twitter @howellspace or contact her at her website.