Atlas and Daphnis
June 12, 2008
Looking upward from beneath the ringplane, the Cassini spacecraft spies Saturn's "wave maker" and "flying saucer" moons.
Daphnis (8 kilometers, or 5 miles across at its widest point) and its gravitationally induced edge waves are seen at left within the Keeler Gap. The equatorial bulge on Atlas (30 kilometers, or 19 miles across at its widest point) is clearly visible here.
This view looks toward the sunlit side of the rings from about 16 degrees below the ringplane. The image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on April 22, 2008. The view was acquired at a distance of approximately 898,000 kilometers (558,000 miles) from Saturn. Image scale is about 5 kilometers (3 miles) per pixel.
Topics:
Moons of Saturn, Astronomy, Planetary science, Environment, Daphnis, Cassini–Huygens timeline, Cassini–Huygens, Inner moon, Saturn, Atlas, Solar System, Technology Internet
