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APOD: Lantern Saturn (2012 May 31)
Posted: Thu May 31, 2012 4:09 am
by APOD Robot
Lantern Saturn
Explanation: Known for its bright
ring system and many
moons, gas giant Saturn looks strange and unfamiliar in this false-color view from the Cassini spacecraft.
In fact, in this Visual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (
VIMS) mosaic the famous rings are almost invisible, seen edge-on cutting across picture center. The most striking contrast in the image is along the terminator or boundary between night and day. To the right (day side) blue-green hues are visible sunlight reflected from Saturn's cloud tops. But on the left (night side) in the absence of sunlight, the
lantern-like glow of infrared radiation from the planet's warm interior silhouettes features at Saturn's deeper cloud levels. The infrared glow also shines from the
broad shadows of Saturn's rings
sweeping across the planet's upper hemisphere.
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Re: APOD: Lantern Saturn (2012 May 31)
Posted: Thu May 31, 2012 10:56 am
by biddie67
Fascinating to be able to "see" these different aspects all existing at the same time. Thank you Cassini !!
Re: APOD: Lantern Saturn (2012 May 31)
Posted: Thu May 31, 2012 11:28 am
by saturno2
Saturn, Saturn
My favorite planet
In this false-color image seems a strange planet
Rings appear as a thin line
Re: APOD: Lantern Saturn (2012 May 31)
Posted: Thu May 31, 2012 1:08 pm
by orin stepanek
Next to Earth, Saturn is the most beautiful planet!
Prettier than the old kerosene lantern!
Re: APOD: Lantern Saturn (2012 May 31)
Posted: Thu May 31, 2012 2:29 pm
by neufer
[list]King Henry IV, Part i Act 3, Scene 3[/list]FALSTAFF: Thou Art our admiral, thou bearest the lantern in the poop,
. but 'tis in the nose of thee; thou Art the Knight of the Burning Lamp.
Re: APOD: Lantern Saturn (2012 May 31)
Posted: Thu May 31, 2012 3:07 pm
by Boomer12k
what would those tempuratures be???
:---(===) *
Re: APOD: Lantern Saturn (2012 May 31)
Posted: Thu May 31, 2012 4:04 pm
by Just Another Wigit
Boomer12k wrote:what would those tempuratures be???
look here =>
http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/science/inde ... ePageID=51
Re: APOD: Lantern Saturn (2012 May 31)
Posted: Thu May 31, 2012 9:34 pm
by Eddie
I love to see photos of these Gas Giants, but I can't help wondering how they came to be. Are they failed stars? Why does the gas not disperse?
Re: APOD: Lantern Saturn (2012 May 31)
Posted: Thu May 31, 2012 11:54 pm
by Chris Peterson
Eddie wrote:I love to see photos of these Gas Giants, but I can't help wondering how they came to be. Are they failed stars? Why does the gas not disperse?
No, they are not failed stars. They are made of material that was in orbit around the early center of our Solar System (the forming Sun) and which came together- still in orbit- primarily under the influence of gravity. And it's gravity that keeps them from dispersing.