Let Saturn soothe you. More stunning photos from the Cassini space-probe, which has just completed a series of highly inclined orbits resulting in new perspectives on our great gaudy bauble.
The thumbnails below link to hi-res versions from CICLOPS (Cassini Imaging Central Laboratory for OPerationS). The image titles link to information pages with links to medium-res images for those who wish to save on bandwith (medium res versions for pictures 2 & 3 only sorry – EDIT).
Magnificent blue and gold Saturn floats obliquely as one of its gravity-bound companions, Dione, hangs in the distance. The darkened rings seem to nearly touch their shadowy reverse images on the planet below.
Dark and sharply defined ring shadows appear to constrict the flow of color from Saturn’s warmly hued south to the bluish northern latitudes. Scientists studying Saturn are not yet sure about the precise cause of the color change from north to south.
Surely one of the most gorgeous sights the Solar System has to offer, Saturn sits enveloped by the full splendor of its stately rings.
Absolutely beautiful Tigtog, made me glad to have a widescreen monitor!
Ditto Tigtog, watching… and listening to ABC FM and the MSO with Mahler’s 1st symphony. Thanks a million
Pablo, SL: excellent
I heart Cassini. There’s a continual trickle of beautiful, grand images. Awe-inspiring.
The Hubble site is also worth a visit now and again, when you’re in one of those “Gee, Isn’t THe Universe A Wonderful Place” moods.
There’s some pretty inspiring imagery available, especially of Galaxies and Nebulae.
Also the “astronomy picture of the day” site. I am still coming across gorgeous photos of Comet Mcnaught on Flickr too. Seems like South Africa and Western Australia gave the best views (or coincidentally had photographers with best skills).
Another bewdie: The Bad Astronomy Blog (he debunks bad astronomy and writes clear explanations of cool new stuff). He also went Sqeeee! about the newest Cassini pics.
Yes, the images are breathtaking, as is the reality they capture.
Glory to God in the highest.
I have to demur, though, over the choice of Mahler as the soundtrack. The proper selection, naturally, is “Astronomy Domine” by early Pink Floyd. It’s also a miracle of staccato rock n roll scansion:
Lime
and
lim-
pid green sur-
rounds the
sound, the
i-
cy
wa-
ters un-
der-
ground.
Somewhere beyond the heavens, Syd and W.C. Williams are sharing a cuppa and grinning like veritable Cheshire cats.
My brother-in-law works on the Cassini magnetometer team. I’m ever so proud.
d
Don’t mind if I do.
Awesome stuff, keep it coming, please.
Glad you’ve deiscovered Phil Plait of Badastronomy Tigtog – he’s a leading Aussie Skeptic and does beautiful science presentations.
Phil Plait has been a guest speaker for the Australian Skeptics, but in case there is any confusion, Phil himself is as US as a pome fruit pastry product…
If you ever want to check out some reeeeallly bad astronomy, have a look at “No One May Ever Have the Same Knowledge Again: Letters to Mount Wilson Observatory.” It’s a collection of old letters by various addled monomaniacs written to professional astronomers, explaining their bizarre theories of the solar system and the cosmos. And reasoned out in meticulous, imaginary detail. Quite mad. Published by the notorious Museum of Jurassic Technology, but I bet you can get it from Amazon.
Ok, hand me my wallet.
It’s got “Bad Astronomer” on it.
Letters to Mount Wilson Observatory can be found here.
The first two letters (from Alice May Williams and Edward) of the three on the website are from mentally ill or distressed people, but the third (from W. Charles Lamb) is more intelligible, and starts as follows:
““No One May Ever Have the Same Knowledge Again”
Now that’s what Birdy should have called his blog.
Tigtog:
Despite all the strife and injustice and terrors in the world today, it is seeing things like these Saturn pictures that make me really glad that I am living in an age when such things are possible ……. we are in a truly marvellous universe.
b’t'w, (slightly off-topic), did you see SBS-TV last night? There was a wonderful documentary, “Wonderland”, about the ecology of a Latvian rubbish dump. Highly unlikely subject turned into a beautiful explanation of nature at work.
j-p-z and Sacha:
Amusing but sad too …….
I’ve always enjoyed nothing better than getting well out of the city, and away from towns of any size, on a clear, moonless night, watching the stars, planets, galaxies, etc., thinking deeply about our place in the spacetime continuum and wondering about the intelligences out there which might be looking back at us. One of these nights I’ll take a telescope along.
Nothing better, my dear interstellar cephalopod, than getting out into the country with a telescope and watching the moons of Jupiter.
Although once I start thinking of Galileo I then go into Bohemian Rhapsody mode, which requires understanding companions.
Ooh. Ooh-ooh. The “grazing occultation” of Saturn by the Moon.
RING ECLIPSE
From the Lunar Picture of the Day, via the Bad Astronomy Blog, the picture is a composite from astrophotographer Peter Lawrence.