The cold, icy orbs of the Saturn system come to life in a slew of five movie clips prepared by NASA from Cassini spacecraft images. In addition to their visual interest, scientists at Jet Propulsion Laboratory are using the movies to refine their understanding of the orbits of Saturn’s moons, and to help them navigate Cassini – which is nearing the halfway mark of its planned four-year mission – more precisely.
The pictures capturing several moons in one frame are often strikingly beautiful, particularly when they are deliberately imaged in red, green and blue spectral filters, which allow scientists to create a color photo.
One recent color image shows two of Saturn’s most fascinating moons, icy-white Enceladus and orange, haze-enshrouded Titan.
