Ringless Saturn? The Planet's Famous Feature May Be Surprisingly Young.
Published 10 Jan 2018, 17:18 GMT, Updated 29 Apr 2019, 14:35 BST
In August 2009, NASA’s Cassini spacecraft became the first robotic emissary from Earth to witness an equinox at Saturn, when the sun was shining directly on the giant planet’s equator.
Photograph by NASA, JPL, CassiniCassini visited Jupiter on its way to Saturn, making its closest flyby in December 2000. This true-color mosaic of the solar system’s largest planet was constructed from images taken by the spacecraft’s narrow-angle camera.
Photograph by NASA, JPL, CassiniCassini captured this detailed view of Saturn’s icy moon Enceladus from a distance of about 112,000 miles.
Photograph by NASA, JPL, CassiniSaturn casts a deep shadow on its rings in this Cassini image.
Photograph by NASA, JPL, CassiniThis mosaic made with Cassini pictures is the most detailed global color map of Jupiter ever produced. The stereographic projection shows the south pole in the center and the equator at the edge.
Photograph by NASA, JPL, CassiniNine days before it entered Saturn’s orbit, Cassini captured this exquisite natural-color view of the planet’s iconic rings.
Photograph by NASA, JPL, CassiniDramatic plumes spray icy particles, water vapor, and organic compounds from the fissures known as “tiger stripes” near the south pole of Saturn's moon Enceladus.
Photograph by NASA, JPL, CassiniCassini zooms in on patchy mountains on the moon Iapetus, originally identified in images from NASA's Voyager spacecraft taken more than 25 years earlier.
Photograph by NASA, JPL, CassiniThese stereo views, taken by Cassini in March 2017, highlight the quirky shape of Saturn's small moon Pan.
Photograph by NASA, JPL, Space Science InstitutePhotograph by NASA, JPL, Cassini
Saturn's dynamic F ring contains many types of mysterious features, including bright clumps and jets.
Photograph by NASA, JPL, CassiniThree of Saturn's moons—Tethys, Enceladus, and Mimas—appear in a group photo taken by Cassini.
Photograph by NASA, JPL, CassiniSaturn's northern region is bathed in sunlight in this Cassini view from late 2016.
Photograph by NASA, JPL, CassiniSaturn’s upper atmosphere generates the faint haze seen along the limb of the planet in this Cassini image.
Photograph by NASA, JPL, CassiniCassini took this picture in a wavelength that is absorbed by methane. Dark areas are regions with thicker clouds where light has to travel through more methane on its way into and back out of the atmosphere.
Photograph by NASA, JPL, CassiniCassini revealed that the north polar area of Enceladus is heavily cratered, an indication that the surface has not been renewed for many years.
Photograph by NASA, JPL, CassiniAs Cassini prepared for its death dive into Saturn’s atmosphere in 2017, it acquired unprecedented views of the outer edges of the planet’s main ring system.
Photograph by NASA, JPL, CassiniCassini’s journey to Saturn began on October 15, 1997, with the liftoff of a Titan IVB/Centaur rocket carrying the orbiter and the attached Huygens probe.
Photograph by NASA