Colorful Holiday Treats from Saturn

By Nancy Atkinson - December 22, 2011 at 7:28 PM UTC | Planetary Science
titan-dione.jpg

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"Hey! Look what our Santa at Saturn has sent our way!" said

Carolyn Porco

, the Cassini imaging team lead, in a post on Twitter. This wonderful collection of just-released colorful images from the Saturn system are a holiday gift from the Cassini and

CICLOPS

(Cassini Imaging Central Laboratory for Operations)team.

Above, Saturn's third-largest moon, Dione, can be seen through the haze of the planet's largest moon, Titan, in this view of the two posing before the planet and its rings from NASA's Cassini spacecraft.

More treats below!

[caption id="attachment_92072" align="aligncenter" width="580" caption="Saturn's moon Tethys, with its stark white icy surface, peeps out from behind the larger, hazy, colorful Titan in this view of the two moons obtained by NASA's Cassini spacecraft. Saturn's rings lie between the two. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute"]

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[caption id="attachment_92073" align="aligncenter" width="580" caption="These views from NASA's Cassini spacecraft look toward the south polar region of Saturn's largest moon, Titan, and show a depression within the moon's orange and blue haze layers near the south pole. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute"]

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[caption id="attachment_92074" align="aligncenter" width="566" caption="The colorful globe of Saturn's largest moon, Titan, passes in front of the planet and its rings in this true color snapshot from NASA's Cassini spacecraft. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute"]

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[caption id="attachment_92075" align="aligncenter" width="580" caption="Saturn's largest moon, Titan, appears deceptively small paired here with Dione, Saturn's third-largest moon, in this view from NASA's Cassini spacecraft. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute"]

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To see more details and larger versions of these images,

visit the CICLOPS website.

(And thanks, Carolyn and team for the beautiful gifts!)

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson is a space journalist and author with a passion for telling the stories of people involved in space exploration and astronomy. She is currently retired from daily writing, but worked at Universe Today for 20 years as a writer and editor. She also contributed articles to The Planetary Society, Ad Astra (National Space Society), New Scientist and many other online outlets.

Her 2019 book, "Eight Years to the Moon: The History of the Apollo Missions,” shares the untold stories of engineers and scientists who worked behind the scenes to make the Apollo program so successful, despite the daunting odds against it. Her first book “Incredible Stories From Space: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Missions Changing Our View of the Cosmos” (2016) tells the stories of 37 scientists and engineers that work on several current NASA robotic missions to explore the solar system and beyond.

Nancy is also a NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador, and through this program, she has the opportunity to share her passion of space and astronomy with children and adults through presentations and programs. Nancy's personal website is nancyatkinson.com