Saturn's rings viewed from Earth
As Saturn travels around its orbit, Hubble sees a different view of the tilted rings from a position near Earth. The rings nearly disappear twice during Saturn's approximately 30-year orbit, because we see them edge on and they are extremely thin relative to their diameter.
Credit:
Illustration credit: NASA, ESA and Z. Levay (STScI). Photo credit: NASA, ESA and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA). Acknowledgment: M. Wong (STScI/UC Berkeley) and C. Go (Philippines)
About the Image
NASA caption
| Id: | heic0904j |
| Type: | Collage |
| Release date: | 17 March 2009, 14:00 |
| Related releases: | heic0904 |
| Size: | 3000 x 2400 px |
About the Object
| Name: | Saturn |
| Type: | • Solar System : Planet : Type : Gas Giant • Solar System : Planet : Satellite |
Colours & filters
| Band | Wavelength | Telescope |
| Optical B |
439 nm | Hubble Space Telescope WFPC2 |
| Optical V |
555 nm | Hubble Space Telescope WFPC2 |
| Optical R |
675 nm | Hubble Space Telescope WFPC2 |
