In this photograph taken in the Cassini spacecraft's 12th year orbiting Saturn, the ring shadows appear to obscure almost the entire southern hemisphere, while the planet's north pole and its six-sided jet stream, known as 'the hexagon' are fully illuminated by the sun.
Photograph by NASA, JPL Cal-tech, Space Science InstituteA total of 126 images taken over the course of two hours make up this mosaic picture of Saturn. The Cassini-Huygens spacecraft snapped the photos on October 6, 2004, when it was approximately 3.9 million miles (6.3 million kilometres) from Earth.
Photograph by NASA, JPL, Space Science InstituteTwo of Saturn's more than 60 known moons are barely visible in this picture of the ringed planet. Mimas, at the upper right, has an enormous impact crater on one side, and Tethys, at the bottom, has a huge rift zone called Ithaca Chasma that runs nearly three-quarters of the way around the moon.
Photograph by NASA, JPL, Space Science InstituteSaturn's otherworldly rings encircle the planet and extend out for hundreds of thousands of kilometres. The rings—there are thousands—are made up of billions of ice and rock particles, thought to be pieces of comets, asteroids, or shattered moons.
Photograph by NASA, JPL, Space Science InstituteA six-sided feature encircles Saturn's north pole in this 2006 image. The hexagon was first observed in the early 1980s, proving that the feature—whatever it is—is long lived. This photo was taken using Saturn's thermal glow, hence the red hue.
Photograph by NASA, JPL, University of ArizonaSaturn's rings appear blue in this false-colour image taken from Cassini. The planet's northern hemisphere is about twice as bright as its southern hemisphere, because high-level, fine particles are about half as prevalent in the northern hemisphere as in the south. These particles block Saturn's glow more strongly, making it look brighter in the north.
Photograph by NASA, JPL, University of ArizonaThe Cassini spacecraft surveys Saturn's outstretched ring system in infrared from a vantage point high above the planet's northern latitudes. Jupiter, Uranus, and Neptune also have rings, but Saturn's are by far the largest and most spectacular.
Photograph by NASA, JPL, Space Science InstituteClouds swirl on Saturn, the second largest planet in our solar system. Like its bigger neighbour Jupiter, Saturn is a gas planet made mostly of hydrogen and helium. Its magnetic field is 578 times more powerful than Earth's.
Photograph by NASA, JPL, Space Science InstituteSaturn's northern hemisphere appears blue in this natural-color photograph taken by Cassini in December 2004. During its four-year tour of Saturn, Cassini will complete 74 orbits of the ringed planet and 44 close flybys of the moon Titan.
A halo surrounds Titan, Saturn's largest moon. Titan's atmosphere, almost entirely nitrogen, extends some 370 miles (600 kilometres) into space—ten times as far as Earth's atmosphere.
Photograph by NASA, JPL, Space Science InstituteSaturn's icy moon Enceladus, one of the most promising locations in the search for a place where life can be sustained, is seen in stunning detail.
Photograph by <a href="http://ciclops.org/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">Cassini Imaging Team</a>, <a href="http://www.spacescience.org/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">SSI</a>, <a href="http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">JPL</a>, <a href="http://www.esa.int/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">ESA</a>, <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">NASA</a>The colourful 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.
Photograph by NASA