torsdag, oktober 12, 2006

Best. Saturn. Picture. EVAH!

I know, I borrowed my own title from last week.

But holy haleakale. This is magnificent.

Saturn from Cassini, back lit by the Sun with a glow in the background

I shrank the image to fit my blog, but stop whatever you are doing and go grab the bigger version! It’s incredible.

This one is spectacular as well:

Saturn from Cassini, back lit by the Sun

It’s a mosaic of 165 separate images from Cassini, showing Saturn and its rings lit from behind by the Sun. It shows the fainter rings that are more difficult to spot from the other side. Different viewing angles give insight into the particles making up the rings, since they reflect and scatter light differently. Using different wavelengths — ultraviolet, visible, infrared — also helps astronomers understand what the particles are made of, and how big they are.

Sometimes, though, I don’t worry too much about the science. It’s also important to see that the images we get are simply stunning, gorgeous almost beyond comprehension. There is such beauty in nature! And for thousands of years of history, we had no idea what was out there, waiting for us to find it and drink it in.

I say this a lot, but it bears repeating: what else is out there, what things are there to know, what things are there to experience, that we have not yet discovered?

Link

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