Saturn's moon Epimetheus is seen here from just beneath the ring plane, along with Saturn's intriguing F ring. The bright, knotted core of the F ring is flanked on both sides by thin, dusty strands. The outer part of the A ring is visible at the left. Epimetheus is 116 kilometers (72 miles) across.
Part of the little moon's night side is illuminated by reflected light from the planet. For a closer view of Epimetheus see PIA06226.
The image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on June 30, 2005, at a distance of approximately 1.8 million kilometers (1.1 million miles) from Epimetheus and at a Sun-Epimetheus-spacecraft, or phase, angle of 93 degrees. Resolution in the original image was 11 kilometers (7 miles) per pixel.
The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras were designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The imaging operations center is based at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colo.
For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov . The Cassini imaging team homepage is at http://ciclops.org .
Three of Saturn's moons swim past in this movie sequence of images from the Cassini spacecraft. These sequences, called mutual events, are useful for refining scientists' understanding the orbits of the moons.
The movie follows Epimetheus (116 kilometers, or 72 miles across) as it passes in front of Titan (5,150 kilometers, or 3,200 miles across) and then Dione (1,126 kilometers, or 700 miles across).
The faint object that appears at the left, below the ringplane, halfway through the movie is a background star.
The movie was created using 24 clear-filter images taken over a period of about 40 minutes. The images were acquired by the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on Jan. 5, 2006, at a mean distance of approximately 3 million kilometers (1.9 million miles) from Epimetheus. The image scale is approximately 18 kilometers (11 miles) per pixel on Epimetheus, 25 kilometers (16 miles) per pixel on Titan and 20 kilometers (12 miles) per pixel on Dione.
The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras were designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The imaging operations center is based at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colo.
For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/. The Cassini imaging team homepage is at http://ciclops.org.
Voir l'image PIA07802: Staying with Epimetheus sur le site de la NASA.
With this false-color view, Cassini presents the closest look yet at Saturn's small moon Epimetheus (epp-ee-MEE-thee-uss).
The color of Epimetheus in this view appears to vary in a non-uniform way across the different facets of the moon's irregular surface. Usually, color differences among planetary terrains identify regional variations in the chemical composition of surface materials. However, surface color variations can also be caused by wavelength-dependent differences in the way a particular material reflects light at different lighting angles. The color variation in this false-color view suggests such "photometric effects" because the surface appears to have a more bluish cast in areas where sunlight strikes the surface at greater angles.
This false color view combines images obtained using filters sensitive to ultraviolet, polarized green and infrared light. The images were taken at a Sun-Epimetheus-spacecraft, or phase, angle of 115 degrees, thus part of the moon is in shadow to the right. This view shows an area seen only very obliquely by NASA's Voyager spacecraft. The scene has been rotated so that north on Epimetheus is up.
The slightly reddish feature in the lower left is a crater named Pollux. The large crater just below center is Hilairea, which has a diameter of about 33 kilometers (21 miles).
At 116 kilometers (72 miles) across, Epimetheus is slightly smaller than its companion moon, Janus (181 kilometers, or 113 miles across), which orbits at essentially the same distance from Saturn.
The images for this color composite were obtained with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on March 30, 2005, at a distance of approximately 74,600 kilometers (46,350 miles) from Epimetheus. Resolution in the original images was about 450 meters (1,480 feet) per pixel. This view has been magnified by a factor of two to aid visibility.
The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras were designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The imaging team is based at the Space Science Institute, Boulder, Colo.
For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov. For additional images visit the Cassini imaging team homepage http://ciclops.org.
Small and asteroid-like in appearance, Epimetheus is seen here with Saturn's nearly edge-on rings in the distance. Epimetheus has a mean density that is less than that of water, suggesting that it might be somewhat porous. Epimetheus is 116 kilometers (72 miles) across.
The image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on March 12, 2005, at a distance of approximately 1.8 million kilometers (1.1 million miles) from Saturn and at a Sun-Saturn-spacecraft, or phase, angle of 90 degrees. Resolution in the original image was 10 kilometers (6 miles) per pixel. The image has been contrast-enhanced and magnified by a factor of two to aid visibility.
The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras were designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The imaging team is based at the Space Science Institute, Boulder, Colo.
For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission, visit http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov and the Cassini imaging team home page, http://ciclops.org.
As the Cassini spacecraft studies the rings, an icy interloper happens past. At the top of the image, between the spacecraft and the rings, is Epimetheus.
The darker region extending from center right is within the C ring. Surrounding it are the B ring, Cassini Division and A ring.
This view looks toward the sunlit side of the rings from about 2 degrees below the ringplane. Epimetheus is 116 kilometers (72 miles) across.
The image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on Jan. 17, 2008. The view was acquired at a distance of approximately 1.1 million kilometers (707,000 miles) from Saturn. Image scale is about 6 kilometers (4 miles) per pixel.
The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras were designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The imaging operations center is based at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colo.
For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/home/index.cfm. The Cassini imaging team homepage is at http://ciclops.org.
Voir l'image PIA09840: Epimetheus in the Way sur le site de la NASA.
From 34 degrees above Saturn's equatorial plane, Cassini gazed down at Saturn's moon Epimetheus. The region seen here includes territory farther north and east than that imaged in March 2005 (see PIA06226).
The two largest craters visible here are the only officially named features on Epimetheus. The crater at the left (at about the 9 o'clock position) is named Pollux; the crater at lower left (containing a string of several smaller craters) is called Hilairea. Epimetheus is 116 kilometers (72 miles) across.
The image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on July 14, 2005, at a distance of approximately 87,000 kilometers (54,000 miles) from Epimetheus and at a Sun-Epimetheus-spacecraft, or phase, angle of 95 degrees. The image scale is 520 meters (1,710 feet) per pixel.
The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras were designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The imaging team is based at the Space Science Institute, Boulder, Colo.
For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov. For additional images visit the Cassini imaging team homepage http://ciclops.org.
Cassini continues to survey the small worlds that orbit near Saturn's rings, capturing this view of Epimetheus. The moon's lumpy, irregular topography can be seen here, along with several impact craters. Epimetheus is 116 kilometers (72 miles) across.
The image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on May 20, 2005, at a distance of approximately 345,000 kilometers (214,000 miles) from Epimetheus and at a Sun-Epimetheus-spacecraft, or phase, angle of 26 degrees. Resolution in the original image was 2 kilometers (1 mile) per pixel. The view was magnified by a factor of two and contrast-enhanced to aid visibility of the moon's surface. A closer view of Epimetheus, taken from a different viewing angle is also available (see PIA06226).
The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras were designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The imaging team is based at the Space Science Institute, Boulder, Colo.
For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov. For additional images visit the Cassini imaging team homepage http://ciclops.org.
The shadow of Epimetheus, one of Saturn's co-orbital moons, races across the planet's restless cloud tops. Epimetheus (116 kilometers, or 72 miles across) cruises along beyond the orbits of the narrow F ring and its shepherd moons.
Farther south on Saturn, the swirls and eddies are obscured by the shadow of the outer A ring and its two prominent, moon-containing gaps, Encke (bottom) and Keeler (dim, at the A ring edge).
The image was taken with the Cassini spacecraft wide-angle camera using a spectral filter sensitive to wavelengths of infrared light centered at 728 nanometers. The view was obtained on June 30, 2006 at a distance of approximately 335,000 kilometers (208,000 miles) from Saturn. Image scale is 16 kilometers (10 miles) per pixel.
The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras were designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The imaging operations center is based at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colo.
Voir l'image PIA08227: Shade from Epimetheus sur le site de la NASA.
One of Saturn's strange co-orbital moons, Epimetheus, was captured by Cassini in this view. Irregularly shaped Epimetheus occasionally swaps orbits with nearby Janus (see PIA06603), and both moons play a role in maintaining the outer edge of Saturn's bright A ring. Epimetheus is 116 kilometers (72 miles) across.
The image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on Jan. 22, 2005, at a distance of approximately 2.5 million kilometers (1.6 million miles) from Epimetheus and at a Sun-Epimetheus-spacecraft, or phase, angle of 90 degrees. Resolution in the image is 15 kilometers (9 miles) per pixel. The image has been contrast-enhanced to aid visibility.
The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras were designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The imaging team is based at the Space Science Institute, Boulder, Colo.
For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission, visit http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov and the Cassini imaging team home page, http://ciclops.org.
Small, multi-faceted Epimetheus wanders into Cassini's field of view, while Saturn's dark shadow cuts across the ringplane. Only a sliver of the outer A ring is seen here, including the narrow Keeler Gap. Epimetheus is a moon that is 116 kilometers (72 miles) across.
This view is from 10 degrees out of the ringplane, gazing toward the lit face of the rings.
The image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on Aug. 31, 2005, at a distance of approximately 2.1 million kilometers (1.3 million miles) from Epimetheus and at a Sun-Epimetheus-spacecraft, or phase, angle of 60 degrees. Resolution in the original image was 13 kilometers (8 miles) per pixel.
For a much closer view of crater-pocked Epimetheus see PIA06226.
The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras were designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The imaging operations center is based at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colo.
For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov. For additional images visit the Cassini imaging team homepage http://ciclops.org.
Epimetheus is one of Saturn's "co-orbital moons" because it shares nearly the same orbit as Janus at a distance of approximately 151,000 kilometers (94,000 miles) from Saturn. Epimetheus is 116 kilometers (72 miles) across and Janus is 181 kilometers (113 miles) across.
The image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on Feb. 18, 2005, at a distance of approximately 1.1 million kilometers (684,000 miles) from Epimetheus and at a Sun-Epimetheus-spacecraft, or phase, angle of 96 degrees. Resolution in the original image was 6 kilometers (4 miles) per pixel. The image has been contrast-enhanced and magnified by a factor of four to aid visibility.
The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras were designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The imaging team is based at the Space Science Institute, Boulder, Colo.
For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission, visit http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov and the Cassini imaging team home page, http://ciclops.org.
The Cassini spacecraft captured this glimpse of icy Epimetheus just before the small moon disappeared behind the bulk of Saturn's atmosphere.
See PIA07567 for a closer view of Epimetheus (116 kilometers, or 72 miles across).
The image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on Dec. 20, 2005, at a distance of approximately 2.3 million kilometers (1.4 million miles) from Epimetheus and 2.2 million kilometers (1.4 million miles) from Saturn. The image scale is 14 kilometers (9 miles) per pixel on Epimetheus and 13 kilometers (8 miles) per pixel on Saturn.
The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras were designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The imaging operations center is based at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colo.
For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov. The Cassini imaging team homepage is at http://ciclops.org.
The Cassini spacecraft's close flyby of Epimetheus in December 2007 returned detailed images of the moon's south polar region.
The view shows what might be the remains of a large impact crater covering most of this face, and which could be responsible for the somewhat flattened shape of the southern part of Epimetheus (116 kilometers, or 72 miles across) seen previously at much lower resolution.
The image also shows two terrain types: darker, smoother areas, and brighter, slightly more yellowish, fractured terrain. One interpretation of this image is that the darker material evidently moves down slopes, and probably has a lower ice content than the brighter material, which appears more like "bedrock." Nonetheless, materials in both terrains are likely to be rich in water ice.
The images that were used to create this enhanced color view were taken with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on Dec. 3, 2007. The views were obtained at a distance of approximately 37,400 kilometers (23,000 miles) from Epimetheus and at a Sun-Epimetheus-spacecraft, or phase, angle of 65 degrees. Image scale is 224 meters (735 feet) per pixel.
The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras were designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The imaging operations center is based at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colo.
For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/home/index.cfm. The Cassini imaging team homepage is at http://ciclops.org.
Voir l'image PIA09813: Epimetheus Revealed sur le site de la NASA.
Epimetheus floats above Saturn's swirling skies.
Beyond Epimetheus (116 kilometers, or 72 miles across), the narrow F ring appears dark from this vantage point, against the much brighter planet. The three largest gaps in the rings -- the Keeler and Encke Gaps and the Cassini Division -- appear as bright regions in the darkened ringplane.
This view looks toward the unilluminated side of the rings from about 7 degrees above the ringplane.
The image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on June 1, 2007 at a distance of approximately 1.9 million kilometers (1.2 million miles) from Epimetheus. Image scale is 12 kilometers (7 miles) per pixel.
The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras were designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The imaging operations center is based at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colo.
For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/home/index.cfm. The Cassini imaging team homepage is at http://ciclops.org.
Saturn's small, irregularly-shaped moon Epimetheus orbits against the backdrop of the planet's rings, which are nearly edge-on in this view. Some of the moon's larger geological features can be seen here. Epimetheus is 116 kilometers (72 miles) across.
The image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on Feb. 18, 2005, at a distance of approximately 990,000 kilometers (615,000 miles) from Epimetheus and at a Sun-Epimetheus-spacecraft, or phase, angle of 99 degrees. Resolution in the original image was 6 kilometers (4 miles) per pixel. The image has been contrast-enhanced and magnified by a factor of two to aid visibility.
The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras were designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The imaging team is based at the Space Science Institute, Boulder, Colo.
For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission, visit http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov and the Cassini imaging team home page, http://ciclops.org.