Emily LakdawallaOct 22, 2008

Mimas, Prometheus, and rings in motion

Here's an entry from the "just plain cool" department: an animation of 20 recent Cassini images, watching Mimas occult Prometheus as the shadowed face of the rings moves across the background. Cassini takes these "mutual event" movies mostly to refine the precision of orbital information of the various bodies. But I like to think that they also get just a little bit of priority because they look so cool.

Mimas, Prometheus, and the rings in motion

NASA / JPL / SSI / animation by Emily Lakdawalla

Mimas, Prometheus, and the rings in motion

Support our core enterprises

Your support powers our mission to explore worlds, find life, and defend Earth. You make all the difference when you make a gift. Give today!

Donate