New NASA Photo Captures 3 Moons Of Saturn In 1 Stunning Photo
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS) - The moon can appear almost haunting when just a sliver clings above us here on Earth. But if we could watch the night sky above Saturn we would often be able to see several of the semi-dark orbs reminding us of our tiny place in the solar system.
Saturn has 53 named moons, and several other classified as provisional. NASA's Cassini spacecraft caught three of them together, decorating space with a trio of crescents.
NASA list the three moons as Titan (3,200 miles or 5,150 kilometers across), Mimas (246 miles or 396 kilometers across), and Rhea (949 miles or 1,527 kilometers across). All are among the largest and earliest discovered moons of Saturn.
"Titan, the largest moon in this image, appears fuzzy because we only see its cloud layers...Rhea (upper left) appears rough because its icy surface is heavily cratered. And a close inspection of Mimas (center bottom), though difficult to see at this scale, shows surface irregularities due to its own violent history," NASA says in a press release accompanying the photo.
The image was captured as part of the Cassini mission, which is a cooperative project between NASA, the European Space Agency, the Italian Space Agency and Cal Tech, along with JPL and the Space Science Institute.
As CNET points out, Cassini previously recorded the appearance and disappearance of a mystery island on Titan, which may be linked to wave action, bubbling gases or solids floating in a liquid-methane sea.
Cassini was 1.2 million miles away from Titan when it snapped the photo on March 25, though NASA is just now drawing attention to the striking image. The spacecraft is on an extended mission to study Saturn and its many moons. It launched in 1997, reaching its destination in 2004. Since then it has been sending back photos and data.
For more information on the mission visit http://www.nasa.gov/cassini.