A natural-color image of Saturn from space, the first in which Saturn, its moons and rings, and Earth, Venus and Mars, all are visible, is seen in this NASA handout taken from the Cassini spacecraft July 19, 2013 and released November 12, 2013.Reuters
The Cassini spacecraft has been orbiting Saturn for the past 13 years and it has captured a number of interesting high resolution photos of our solar system's second-biggest planet along with its 62 moons and spectacular rings. NASA's Cassini Spacecraft brought the images that revealed a UFO like form of the satellite that has an average radius of just 8.8 miles.
It also clicked several other pictures that included images of Saturn's small moon Daphnis, its largest moon, Titan, another moon titled Pandora, and many more. As the end of the orbiter's mission approaches, it is making a series of dives through the 1,500-mile-wide (2,400km) gap between Saturn and its rings before plunging into the planet's surface later this year. In this gallery, IBTimes Singapore looks back at the orbiter's best shots while Cassini prepares for its death dive.
The Cassini mission is a joint project between Nasa, ESA (the European Space Agency) and the Italian Space Agency. It is the first in-depth, up-close study of Saturn and its system of rings and moons, which started in 1997 when the orbiter and an ESA probe were launched into space. Seven years later, they reached Saturn, and the Cassini spacecraft became the first to orbit the planet.
The project has allowed the scientists to know more about Saturn and its moons. One of the most important discovery was the identification of an ocean beneath the icy crust of the planet's moon Enceladus and liquid methane seas on another moon, Titan.
The wide-angle camera on NASA's Cassini spacecraft captures Saturn's rings and planet Earth and its moon in the same frame in this rare image.Reuters
The unique six-sided jet stream at Saturn's north pole known as "the hexagon" taken by NASA's Cassini mission is seen in this still handout image from a movie released December 4, 2013.Reuters
The Saturn moon Mimas is seen in an image from NASA's Cassini spacecraft taken at a distance of about 9,500 kilometers (5,900 miles) February 13, 2010.Reuters
Flying past Saturn's moon Dione, Cassini captured this view which includes two smaller moons, Epimetheus and Prometheus, near the planet's rings.Reuters
An ultraviolet image from the Cassini spacecraft shows, from the inside out, the 'Cassini division' in faint red at (L) followed by the A ring in its entirety. The A ring begins with a 'dirty' interior of red followed by a general pattern of more turquoise as it spreads away from the planet, indicating a denser material made up of ice. The red band roughly three-fourths of the way outward in the A ring is known as the Encke gap.Reuters
Three of Saturn's moons, Tethys, Enceladus and Mimas, taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on December 3, 2015 is shown in this NASA image released on February 22, 2016.Reuters
The north pole of Saturn's icy moon Enceladus is seen in an image from NASA's Cassini spacecraft taken October 14, 2015.Reuters
Titan, Saturn's largest moon appears before the planet as it undergoes seasonal changes in this natural color view from NASA's Cassini spacecraft in this handout released by NASA August 29, 2012.Reuters
The surface of Saturn's geyser moon Enceladus is seen in this image released on May 31, 2012 by NASA's Cassini mission.Reuters
NASA's Cassini spacecraft successfully completed its second-closest encounter with Saturn's small, icy moon Helene in this NASA handout image dated June 18, 2011.Reuters
Hemispheric color differences on Saturn's moon Rhea are apparent in this false-color view from NASA's Cassini spacecraft taken March 2, 2010 in this image released by NASA December 20, 2010.Reuters
This composite image from NASA's Cassini spacecraft released by NASA March 13, 2007, shows evidence of seas,likely filled with liquid methane or ethane, in the high northern latitudes of Saturn's moon Titan.Reuters
