Saturn...as you've never imagined

Written by Fox News on . Posted in Science

Publisher's note:  This is just a breathtaking view of Saturn eclipsing the Sun as viewed from the Cassini Satellite.  Just amazing.

Fox News:  This is what it would look like to gaze upon Saturn.

NASA on Tuesday released a natural-color image of Saturn from space, the first in which Saturn, its moons and rings, and Earth, Venus and Mars all are visible. The panoramic photo from NASA's Cassini spacecraft depicts the sixth planet from the sun as it would appear to human eyes -- as though you were strolling by and your gaze happened to fall upon another planet.

The spacecraft's imaging team processed 141 wide-angle images to create the panorama. It sweeps 404,880 miles across Saturn and its inner ring system, including all of Saturn's rings out to the E ring, which is Saturn's second outermost ring. For perspective, the distance between Earth and our moon would fit comfortably inside the span of the E ring.

"In this one magnificent view, Cassini has delivered to us a universe of marvels," said Carolyn Porco, Cassini's imaging team lead at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colo. "And it did so on a day people all over the world, in unison, smiled in celebration at the sheer joy of being alive on a pale blue dot."

Click for complete story...