Post by glactus on Oct 8, 2009 7:22:53 GMT
Flying high: The Spitzer mission was launched in 2003 and is currently 66million miles from Earth in orbit around the sun.
The Spitzer space telescope
This artist's rendering shows a nearly invisible ring around Saturn - the largest of the giant planet's many rings. This new ring was discovered by Spitzer, and the conception simulates an infrared view of the giant ring.
Saturn's new ring
The inset shows an enlarged image of Saturn, as seen by the W.M. Keck Observatory at Mauna Kea, Hawaii, in infrared light. The ring, stars and wispy clouds are an artist's representation.
saturn and moon system
Saturn appears as just a small dot from outside the band of ice and dust. The bulk of the ring material starts about six million kilometers (3.7 million miles) away from the planet and extends outward roughly another 12 million kilometers (7.4 million miles). The ring's diameter is equivalent to roughly 300 Saturns lined up side to side.
Credits:
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Keck.
Text credit: Saturn daily
www.saturndaily.com/reports/Spitzer_Discovers_Saturn_Largest_Ring_999.html
The Spitzer space telescope
This artist's rendering shows a nearly invisible ring around Saturn - the largest of the giant planet's many rings. This new ring was discovered by Spitzer, and the conception simulates an infrared view of the giant ring.
Saturn's new ring
The inset shows an enlarged image of Saturn, as seen by the W.M. Keck Observatory at Mauna Kea, Hawaii, in infrared light. The ring, stars and wispy clouds are an artist's representation.
saturn and moon system
Saturn appears as just a small dot from outside the band of ice and dust. The bulk of the ring material starts about six million kilometers (3.7 million miles) away from the planet and extends outward roughly another 12 million kilometers (7.4 million miles). The ring's diameter is equivalent to roughly 300 Saturns lined up side to side.
Credits:
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Keck.
Text credit: Saturn daily
www.saturndaily.com/reports/Spitzer_Discovers_Saturn_Largest_Ring_999.html