Planetary Society logo
  • “Exploration is in our nature.” - Carl Sagan

Bruce Murray Space Image Library

Infrared view of Cassini's impact site

Infrared view of Cassini's impact site
Infrared view of Cassini's impact site This montage of images, made from data obtained by Cassini's visual and infrared mapping spectrometer, shows the location on Saturn where the NASA spacecraft entered Saturn's atmosphere on 15 September 2017. This view shows Saturn in the thermal infrared, at a wavelength of 5 microns. Here, the instrument is sensing heat coming from Saturn's interior, in red. Clouds in the atmosphere are silhouetted against that inner glow. This location -- the site of Cassini's atmospheric entry -- was at this time on the night side of the planet, but would rotate into daylight by the time Cassini made its final dive into Saturn's upper atmosphere, ending its remarkable 13-year exploration of Saturn. The annotation marks the approximate location where the spacecraft entered the atmosphere, at 9.4 degrees north latitude, 53 degrees west longitude. NASA / JPL-Caltech / University of Arizona