Topic: Janus

A Last Look at Saturn from NASA’s Cassini Spacecraft

November 24, 2017 |

Written by Preston Dyches
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Pasadena, CA – In a fitting farewell to the planet that had been its home for over 13 years, the Cassini spacecraft took one last, lingering look at Saturn and its splendid rings during the final leg of its journey and snapped a series of images that has been assembled into a new mosaic. 

Cassini’s wide-angle camera acquired 42 red, green and blue images, covering the planet and its main rings from one end to the other, on September 13th, 2017. Imaging scientists stitched these frames together to make a natural color view. The scene also includes the moons Prometheus, Pandora, Janus, Epimetheus, Mimas and Enceladus.

After more than 13 years at Saturn, and with its fate sealed, NASA’s Cassini spacecraft bid farewell to the Saturnian system by firing the shutters of its wide-angle camera and capturing this last, full mosaic of Saturn and its rings two days before the spacecraft’s dramatic plunge into the planet’s atmosphere. (NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute)

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NASA’s Cassini spacecraft completes first dive into outer edges of Saturn’s Rings

December 6, 2016 |

Written by Preston Dyches
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Pasadena, CA – NASA’s Saturn-orbiting Cassini spacecraft has made its first close dive past the outer edges of Saturn’s rings since beginning its penultimate mission phase on November 30th.

Cassini crossed through the plane of Saturn’s rings on December 4th at 5:09am PST (8:09am EST) at a distance of approximately 57,000 miles (91,000 kilometers) above Saturn’s cloud tops. This is the approximate location of a faint, dusty ring produced by the planet’s small moons Janus and Epimetheus, and just 6,800 miles (11,000 kilometers) from the center of Saturn’s F ring.

This graphic shows the closest approaches of Cassini’s final two orbital phases. Ring-grazing orbits are shown in gray (at left); Grand Finale orbits are shown in blue. The orange line shows the spacecraft’s Sept. 2017 final plunge into Saturn. (NASA/JPL-Caltech)

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NASA’s Cassini Spacecraft to begin first phase of it’s end mission

November 24, 2016 |

Written by Preston Dyches
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Pasadena, CA – A thrilling ride is about to begin for NASA’s Cassini spacecraft. Engineers have been pumping up the spacecraft’s orbit around Saturn this year to increase its tilt with respect to the planet’s equator and rings. And on November 30th, following a gravitational nudge from Saturn’s moon Titan, Cassini will enter the first phase of the mission’s dramatic endgame.

Launched in 1997, Cassini has been touring the Saturn system since arriving there in 2004 for an up-close study of the planet, its rings and moons. During its journey, Cassini has made numerous dramatic discoveries, including a global ocean within Enceladus and liquid methane seas on Titan.

This is an artists concept of the Cassini Spacecraft orbiting Saturn Orbit. (NASA/JPL)

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NASA’s Cassini spacecraft sends back images of Saturn’s moons Enceladus, Janus and Dione

March 30, 2012 |

Icy Moons through Cassini’s Eyes

Written by Jia-Rui C. Cook
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Pasadena, CA – Cassini passed Enceladus first on March 27th, coming within about 46 miles (74 kilometers) of the moon’s surface.

The encounter was primarily designed for Cassini’s ion and neutral mass spectrometer, which “tasted” the composition of Enceladus’ south polar plume. Other instruments, including the Cassini plasma spectrometer and composite infrared spectrometer, also took measurements.

This raw image from NASA's Cassini spacecraft was taken on March 27th, 2012. The camera was pointing toward Saturn's moon Enceladus at approximately 19,810 miles (31,881 kilometers) away. (Image Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute)

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Cassini Presents Saturn Moon Quintet

September 21, 2011 |

Written by Rosemary Sullivant
Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Pasadena, CA – With the artistry of a magazine cover shoot, NASA’s Cassini spacecraft captured this portrait of five of Saturn’s moons poised along the planet’s rings.

From left to right are Janus, Pandora, Enceladus, Mimas and finally Rhea, bisected by the right side of the frame. The view was acquired at a distance of approximately 684,000 miles (1.1 million kilometers) from Rhea and 1.1 million miles (1.8 million kilometers) from Enceladus.

NASA's Cassini spacecraft captures five of Saturn's moons in one image: Janus, Pandora, Enceladus, Mimas and Rhea. This view looks toward the northern, sunlit side of the rings from just above the ringplane. Rhea is closest to Cassini here. The rings are beyond Rhea and Mimas. Enceladus is beyond the rings. (Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute)

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