This Hubble Space Telescope snapshot shows Saturn with its rings edge-on and barely visible. Normally, astronomers see Saturn with its rings tilted. Earth was almost in the plane of Saturn's rings, thus the rings appear edge-on.
<p>In the top image, Saturn's largest moon, Titan, is casting a shadow on Saturn. Titan's atmosphere is a dark brown haze. The other moons appear white because of their bright, icy surfaces. Four moons — from left to right, Mimas, Tethys, Janus, and Enceladus — are clustered around the edge of Saturn's rings on the right. Two other tiny moons appear in front of the ring plane. Prometheus is on the right edge; Pandora, on the left. The rings also are casting a shadow on Saturn because the Sun was above the ring plane.
</p><p>The bottom photograph shows Saturn with its rings slightly tilted. The moon called Dione, on the lower right, is casting a long, thin shadow across the whole ring system due to the setting Sun on the ring plane. The moon on the upper left of Saturn is Tethys.
</p><p>For more information, visit: hubblesite.org/news_release/news/1996-16
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Credit: Erich Karkoschka (University of Arizona Lunar &amp; Planetary Lab) and NASA
NASA Hubble
CC BY 2.0
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