Cassini Spacecraft

Like sugar plum fairies in "The Nutcracker," the moons of Saturn performed a celestial ballet before the eyes of NASA's Cassini spacecraft. New movies frame the moons' silent dance against the majestic sweep of the planet's rings and show as many as four moons gliding around one another.  

Image Caption: Saturn's moons give Tchaikovsky's classic ballet, "The Nutcracker," a graceful new spin in this video compiled from some 61 images taken by the Cassini spacecraft. Image credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute  

The moon Tethys is joined by two smaller moons in this movie from NASA’s Cassini spacecraft. Observations of mutual moon-crossing events, in which one moon passes close to or in front of another, help scientists refine their understanding of the orbits of Saturn's moons. This movie is a concatenation of 15 still images obtained over a span of about 33 minutes. The images were re-projected to a uniform view, and computer interpolation was...  

We love Cassini more with every amazing image the intrepid spacecraft sends back from its travels, and this latest treat is no exception. The Cassini imaging team has assembled images of some of Satu...  

Nasa has captured a stunning image of light reflection in the northern hemisphere of Titan, the largest moon of the planet Saturn, illustrating the presence of surface liquid on the planetary body. The image, taken by the Cassini Spacecraft's visual and infrared mapping spectrometer on July 8, is the first of its kind.  

Nasa has released the latest raw images of Saturn's moon Enceladus, from the Cassini spacecraft's extended mission to the planet and its satellites. The images show the moon's rippling terrain in remarkable clarity. Cassini started transmitting uncalibrated temperature data and images during a flyby on 21 November. The data will help scientists create a highly detailed mosaic image of the southern part of the moon's Saturn-facing hemisphere...  

Image taken of Titan by Cassini Spacecraft in July is the first of its kind. The moon is believed to be the only other planetary body besides Earth to harbour liquid on its surface.  

Image 1: This unprocessed image was captured by NASA's Cassini spacecraft during its Nov. 21, 2009 flyby of Saturn's moon Enceladus. It shows the moon's south polar region, where jets of water vapor and other particles spew from fissures on the surface. Image credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science InstituteImage 2: This unprocessed image was captured by NASA's Cassini spacecraft during its Nov. 21, 2009 flyby of Saturn's moon Enceladus. It shows the...  

The Cassini spacecraft has returned the best images yet of the strange hexagonal jet stream that flows around the northern pole of Saturn. First discovered by the Voyager spacecraft in the early 1980s, the hexagon remains a beautiful mystery to astronomers, and one they’ve been waiting for another shot to see for almost three decades. “The longevity [...]  

After waiting years for the sun to illuminate Saturn's north pole again, cameras aboard NASA's Cassini spacecraft have captured the most detailed images yet of the intriguing hexagon shape crowning the planet. The new images of the hexagon, whose shape is the path of a jet stream flowing around the north pole, reveal concentric circles, curlicues, walls and streamers not seen in previous images. Credit: NASA  

This week, data from NASA's Cassini probe has shed light on a couple of the stranger features of Saturn, providing answers to questions that were raised years ago. In terms of the planet itself, Cassini has spotted strange hexagonal patterns in the clouds near the north pole that were observed for the first and only time 30 years ago, when the Voyager probes swung by the planet. And researchers have used Cassini data...  

Iapetus is often called Saturn's most bizarre moon, due to its starkly contrasting hemispheres -- one black as coal, the other white as snow. Images taken by the Cassini-Huygens spacecraft, orbiting Saturn since 2004, offer the most compelling evidence to date of why and how the moon got its yin-yang appearance, as well as clues to how other such satellites might have formed in the early universe.  

A very cool shot from a weekend fly-by of Enceladus by the Cassini probe. NASA writes: "Numerous plumes are seen rising from long tiger-stripe canyons across Enceladus' craggy surface. Several ice jets are even visible in the shadowed region of...  

Images taken by the Cassini-Huygens spacecraft, orbiting Saturn since 2004, offer the most compelling evidence to date of why and how the moon Iapetus got its yin-yang appearance.  

"A six-sided polygon that encircles the pole of Saturn and it is sitting there as a set feature.... It's been there now for at least 20 years and we're saying, 'What is this?' " Will miracles never cease? No. Even should we cease, miracles will unfold forever. Miracle resides in the deepest foundations of this universe where everything that is is a miracle. This just in: Spring Unveils Saturn's Hexagon (NASA Cassini Saturn Mission Images...