Stellary Starry Universe

In the Shadow of Saturn

Explanation: In the shadow of Saturn, unexpected wonders appear. The robotic Cassini spacecraft now orbiting Saturn recently drifted in giant planet’s shadow for about 12 hours and looked back toward the eclipsed Sun. Cassini saw a view unlike any other. First, the night side of Saturn is seen to be partly lit by light reflected from its own majestic ring system. Next, the rings themselves appear dark when silhouetted against Saturn, but quite bright when viewed away from Saturn, slightly scattering sunlight, in this exaggerated color image.

In the Shadow of Saturn

Click image for larger view, then look closely. Far in the distance, at the left, just above the bright main rings, is the almost ignorable pale blue dot of Earth.

Source: Nasa – Click here for original image & credits