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Polar Lights at Saturn Bid Cassini Farewell
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Space / 2017-10-16

Polar Lights at Saturn Bid Cassini Farewell

Polar Lights at Saturn Bid Cassini Farewell

NASA's image library records Polar Lights at Saturn Bid Cassini Farewell.

WHY IT’S INTERESTING

On Sept. 14, 2017, one day before making its final plunge into Saturn's atmosphere, NASA's Cassini spacecraft used its Ultraviolet Imaging Spectrograph, or UVIS, instrument to capture this final view of ultraviolet auroral emissions in the planet's north polar region. The view is centered on the north pole of Saturn, with lines of latitude visible

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A CLOSER LOOK

On Sept. 14, 2017, one day before making its final plunge into Saturn's atmosphere, NASA's Cassini spacecraft used its Ultraviolet Imaging Spectrograph, or UVIS, instrument to capture this final view of ultraviolet auroral emissions in the planet's north polar region. The view is centered on the north pole of Saturn, with lines of latitude visible for 80, 70 and 60 degrees. Lines of longitude are spaced 40 degrees apart. The planet's day side is at bottom, while the night side is at top. A sequence of images from this observation has also been assembled into a movie sequence. The last image in the movie was taken about an hour before the still image, which was the actual final UVIS auroral image. Auroral emissions are generated by charged particles traveling along the invisible lines of Sa

Explore NASA's original image record for credits and available downloads.

FOLLOW THE EVIDENCE

NASA Image and Video LibraryPolar Lights at Saturn Bid Cassini Farewell

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