Cassini
Closes In
on Saturn
In
this
image,
dark
regions
represent
areas
where
Cassini is
seeing
into
deeper
levels in
Saturn's
atmosphere.
The dark
regions
are
relatively
free of
high
clouds and
the light
at these
particular
near-infrared
wavelengths
penetrates
into the
gaseous
cloud-free
atmosphere
and is
absorbed
by
methane.
The image
was taken
with the
Cassini
spacecraft
narrow
angle
camera on
May 15,
2004, from
a distance
of 24.7
million
kilometers
(15.4
million
miles)
from
Saturn. |