PIA01955: Spokes on Side of Saturn's Rings


Spokes on Side of Saturn’s Rings

Caption:

Spokes are seen on the unlit side of Saturn's rings for the first time in this Voyager 2 wide-angle view obtained Aug. 28 from a distance of 3.4 million kilometers (2.1 million miles). In order to bring out the very faint detail in the B-ring, the image was specially processed for the spokes and thus does not show the true relative brightness of the other rings. The spokes are visible as bright wedge-shaped and tilted features in the outer half of the B-ring (center of image). A time-lapse sequence to be taken later this week will help resolve the question about whether the spokes are forming on the darkside of the rings or are lit-side features seen through the rings.

Background Info:

The Voyager Project is managed for NASA by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.

Cataloging Keywords:

Name Value Additional Values
Target Saturn Rings B Ring
System Saturn
Target Type Ring
Mission Voyager
Instrument Host Cassini Orbiter Voyager 2
Host Type Orbiter Flyby Spacecraft
Instrument Imaging Science Subsystem (ISS)
Detector Wide Angle Camera
Extra Keywords Disk, Grayscale, Visual
Acquisition Date
Release Date 1999-04-11
Date in Caption
Image Credit NASA/JPL
Source photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA01955
Identifier PIA01955