APOD: Titan, Rings, and Saturn from Cassini (2011 Mar 08)

[APOD Robot]

Titan, Rings, and Saturn from Cassini

Explanation: How thin are the rings of Saturn? Brightness measurements from different angles have shown Saturn's rings to be about one kilometer thick, making them many times thinner, in relative proportion, than a razor blade. This thinness sometimes appears in dramatic fashion during an image taken nearly along the ring plane. The robot Cassini spacecraft now orbiting Saturn has now captured another shot that dramatically highlights the ring's thinness. The above image was taken in mid January in infrared and polarized light. Titan looms just over the thin rings, while dark ring shadows on Saturn show the Sun to be above the ring plane. Close inspection of the image will show the smaller moon Enceladus on the far right. Cassini, humanity's first mission to orbit Saturn, currently has operations planned until 2017.

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[niraj]

There is some problem in today's HTML, that is causing text and links to be rendered incorrectly on at least 2 browsers (Firefox and Opera on Linux).

The second sentence now reads as:

Saturn's rings to be about one kilometer thick...

instead of

Brightness measurements from different angles have shown Saturn's rings to be about one kilometer thick...

.

A similar problem is present in the "Explanation" on the discuss page. Here is how the first 2 sentences appear:

How thin are the rings of Saturn? [url=http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1997Icar. ... Brightness measurements from different angles have shown razor blade.

Oh, just noticed that the discuss page looks fine now, but not the main page.

[Guest]

The whole thing should be re-written by someone paying attention.

[Benbrilling]

"many times thinner, in relative proportion, than a razor blade." doesn't make any sort of sense. In proportion to what?

[niraj]

"many times thinner , in proportion, than a razor blade." doesn't make any sort of sense. In proportion to what?

Yea, I agree, that too!

[bystander]

There is an error in the html. The editors have been notified.

[bystander]

"many times thinner, in relative proportion, than a razor blade." doesn't make any sort of sense. In proportion to what?

1 km in proportion to the overall size of the rings is thinner, relatively speaking, than the edge of a razor blade in proportion to its size.

[owlice]

Oooooooooohhhhhhh.......!!!!!!!!!

[paulwallace]

Look to the far left of the large image. Is that Janus/Epimetheus just beyond the F ring? Or have I had too much coffee this morning?

[NoelC]

have I had too much coffee this morning?

Is that actually possible? It's a depressing thought. And here I thought all those sparkles in my vision were just cosmic ray hits!

For sure, something's out there just at the tip.

-Noel

[csudhind@gmail.com]

The "Close Inspection" URL takes me to the following page:

http://charleykanesfunhouse.com/wp-cont ... e-raid.jpg

which is a photo of what looks like a Labrador Retriever taking a quick drink from a commode. Not sure how that relates to APOD! Maybe some act of mental legerdemain that I am unable to make?!

[NoelC]

a photo of what looks like a Labrador Retriever taking a quick drink from a commode. Not sure how that relates to APOD!

They do that as a punishment to those who don't follow the links. Only the folks following all the links get to have a little humor in their day.

-Noel

[JuanAustin]

thrilling picture!
regarding enceladus, is it assumed that as time passes, will it completely spew itself out completely, leaving nothing behind except the e-ring it is forming? are the other rings remnants of previously existing moons ground by the tidal forces of saturn over time?

[BMAONE23]

Look to the far left of the large image. Is that Janus/Epimetheus just beyond the F ring? Or have I had too much coffee this morning?

Relatively speaking, these two moons sit about half the "A" ring distance away from the "F" ring but Pandora sits in the right location. You might be correct though, depending on where they were in their orbit at the time the image was taken. With Enceladus in the foreground though, it might even be Mimas at a distance in the background. I too am curious to know which moon is visible at the far left and at the tip of the ring plane but didn't warrant mentioning in the caption

[Sam]

Original Caption Released with Image:
...
Saturn's largest moon, Titan, is in the center of the image. Titan is 5,150 kilometers, or 3,200 miles, across. The smaller moon Enceladus (504 kilometers, or 313 miles across) is on the far right, appearing just below the rings. The tiny moon Pandora (81 kilometers, or 50 miles across) is barely detectable as a speck on the far left, beyond the thin F ring. To enhance visibility, Pandora has been brightened by a factor of two relative to the rest of the image.
...

[paulwallace]

Yes, Pandora makes sense. Right up against the F. Thanks so much.

[MoodyMan]

"Close Inspection" when clicked take you to a very sick black cat leaning over a toilet.

[BMAONE23]

"Close Inspection" when clicked take you to a very sick black cat leaning over a toilet.

Upon "Closer inspection" it would appear to be a "Possibly Hung Over" Black Dog drinking from the porcelain fountain

[neufer]

Floating a double-edged razor blade as a compass

"many times thinner, in relative proportion, than a razor blade." doesn't make any sort of sense. In proportion to what?

1 km in proportion to the overall size of the rings is thinner, relatively speaking, than the edge of a razor blade in proportion to its size.

Another gross understatement
(only understood by those who were shaving back in the 70's):

Double-edged razor blade 39 x 20 x 0.25 mm [125 to 1]

Rings of Saturn 300,000 x 300,000 x 1 km [300,000 to 1]

3 x 3 cm. sheet of Gold Leaf: 30,000 x 30,000 x 0.1 µm [300,000 to 1]

[anon]

The cat (or dog?) looks like it is just doing a closer inspection of the toilet.

[neufer]

Cassini captured this approximately true-color view of Saturn with its enormous storm on February 25, 2011. The northern storm is obvious, but if you look below it you'll see a subtler band of whirling clouds. Credit: NASA / JPL / SSI / color composite by Ian Regan

---

Pretty picture: Saturn storm
The Planetary Society Blog
By Emily Lakdawalla Mar. 8, 2011

In early 2011 Cassini took several high-resolution panoramas along the enormous storm that had developed in Saturn's northern hemisphere.

This view was captured in an infrared wavelength in which Saturn's atmospheric methane is relatively transparent, yielding tremendous detail of the whorls making up Saturn's weather.
Credit: NASA / JPL / SSI / mosaic by Astro0

Here's a wide-angle view for context,
taken a day earlier, so the details of
the storm are not quite the same:

[biddie67]

It's a study in mind control when you look at the so very thin appearance of Saturn's rings and then be told that they are almost a kilometer thick. Being so well-grounded in the sense of distances here on Earth, it takes more than a moment to adjust to the distances indicated by this picture and how far away that Cassini has to be from Saturn to get such a beautifully sharp picture ...

[BMAONE23]

The cat (or dog?) looks like it is just doing a closer inspection of the toilet.

I think the Dog was out partying too late and is in the throes of a hang over. Perhaps a little "Hair of the Dog" would help

[orin stepanek]

The cat (or dog?) looks like it is just doing a closer inspection of the toilet.

I think the Dog was out partying too late and is in the throes of a hang over. Perhaps a little "Hair of the Dog" would help

Even my Mini Pin would drink from the toilet if I didn't keep her water dish filled. I keep the bowl lid down to keep her safe. As small as she is she might fall in!

[Beyond]

Just when you think you be inundated by all sorts of technical space jabber, Man's best friend jumps in (almost) to save the day