Universe Today

Every 14.8 Earth years, equinox occurs at Saturn. But this is the first time there has been a spacecraft in situ to watch what happens when the sun is directly overhead at the equator, illuminating the rings directly edge-on. New images compiled from the Cassini spacecraft show a rare and breathtaking display of nature: the setting of the sun on Saturn's rings. The image above — a mosaic of 75 different images — shows the beauty of this ringed world, but the most surprising revelation from these new images are that newly discovered lumps and bumps in the rings are as high as the Rocky Mountains.
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Today, August 11, 2009, is Saturn's equinox. As we've been saying for a few months, the rings are going to disappear — at least from our vantage point on Earth. "Whenever equinox occurs on Saturn, sunlight will hit Saturn's thin rings, the ring plane, edge-on," said Linda Spilker, deputy project scientist for the Cassini spacecraft at Saturn. "The light reflecting off this extremely narrow band is so small that for all intents and purposes the rings simply vanish." But even from the view at Saturn, weird things are happening in the rings, and the Cassini spacecraft has a front row seat watching it all take place. Above is one of the latest raw images sent back from Cassini, taken on August 7, 2009 showing how the sunlight is hitting the edge of the rings. It is a gorgeous shot. Below, see some of the strange sights Cassini has been seeing, including a buzzsaw, a blasted ring, and tell-tale moon shadows. For more about Saturn's equinox, check out today's 365 Days of Astronomy podcast with Emily Lakdawalla of the Planetary Society and she'll tell you all about the weird and beautiful play of light and shadow going on at Saturn.
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Titan's mysterious dark plains will be named after planets in the series of "Dune" science fiction novels by author Frank Herbert. The US Geological Survey Astrogeology Science Center announced the first plain or "planitia" given a name will be designated as Chusuk Planitia. Chusuk was a planet from the Dune series, known for its musical instruments. Chusuk Planitia on Titan is located at 5.0S, 23.5W, and in the picture here is the small, dark area next to the "C" of Chusuk.
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