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Saturn in Its Natural Colors

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NASA Image of the Day
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This image from the Cassini spacecraft shows Saturn in its natural colors with its moon Rhea floating to the right of the image and the shadow of the moon Tethys falling on the face of the planet. The rings of Saturn form a dark band across the face of the planet.

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Stately Saturn

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NASA Image of the Day Dec 29 2009

Saturn, stately and resplendent in this natural color view, dwarfs its icy moon Rhea.

Rhea (949 miles in diameter) orbits beyond the rings on the right of the image. The moon Tethys is not shown here, but its shadow is visible on the planet on the left of the image. This view looks toward the northern, sunlit side of the rings from just above the ringplane.

Images taken using red, green and blue spectral filters were combined to create this natural color view. The images were obtained with the Cassini spacecraft wide-angle camera on Nov. 4, 2009, at a distance of approximately 808,000 miles from Saturn.

Image Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute