NASA just captured some of the most mind-blowing images of Saturn's icy rings ever

[Judi Lynn]

Before the final plunge.
PETER DOCKRILL 31 JAN 2017





NASA's Cassini spacecraft has captured some of the closest-ever views of Saturn's rings, with new images revealing unprecedented levels of detail in the massive discs of icy particles orbiting the planet.

The new perspectives come courtesy of Cassini's "ring-grazing" mission phase, where the probe is making a series of orbital dives past the outer edge of Saturn's main ring system. These loops will be some of Cassini's last, with the almost 20-year-old spacecraft soon due to sacrifice itself, plunging into the gas giant this September.

"How fitting it is that we should go out with the best views of Saturn's rings we've ever collected," says Cassini Imaging Team Lead Carolyn Porco from the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colorado.

Cassini's ring-grazing dives began in November last year, and the space probe is about halfway through its final 20 orbits.


More:
http://www.sciencealert.com/cassini-just-captured-some-of-the-most-mind-blowing-images-of-saturn-s-icy-rings-ever

[byronius]

1. Gorgeous gorgeous gorgeous.