Pan coasts down its private highway within the Encke Gap.
The process by which Pan (28 kilometers, or 17 miles across) maintains the gap, clearing the neighborhood around its orbit, is believed to be similar to the way that planets clear gaps in debris disks around young stars.
This view looks toward the unilluminated side of the rings from about 11 degrees above the ringplane.
The limb of Saturn is seen through the rings at upper left.
The image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on April 24, 2008. The view was obtained at a distance of approximately 1.3 million kilometers (784,000 miles) from Pan. Image scale is 8 kilometers (5 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.
Voir l'image PIA09911: Pan in the Driver's Seat sur le site de la NASA.
Pan orbits in the Encke gap near the middle of this image.
Also visible is one of the three dusty ringlets that reside in the Encke gap.
Near the top of the image, the F ring puts in an appearance as well.
The image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on Nov. 5, 2008 at a distance of approximately 1.309 million kilometers (813,000 miles) from Pan and at a Sun-Pan-spacecraft, or phase, angle of 32 degrees. Image scale is 8 kilometers (5 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.
Voir l'image PIA10541: Pan's Ringlet sur le site de la NASA.
Saturn's moon Pan is seen here orbiting within the Encke Gap in Saturn's A ring in two differently processed versions of the same Cassini image. The little moon is responsible for clearing and maintaining this gap, named for Johann Franz Encke, who discovered it in 1837. Pan is 20 kilometers (12 miles) across.
The top image reveals two of the faint, dusty ringlets that occupy the gap along with Pan. One of the ringlets occupies nearly the same orbit as Pan, while the other is closer to the gap's inner edge. Not only do the ringlets vary in brightness, but they also appear to move in and out along their length, resulting in notable "kinks," which are similar in appearance to those observed in the F ring (see PIA06585). One possible explanation for the complex structure of the ringlets is that Pan may not be the only moonlet in this gap.
Pan is responsible for creating stripes, called 'wakes,' in the ring material on either side of it. Since ring particles closer to Saturn than Pan move faster in their orbits, these particles pass the moon and receive a gravitational "kick" from Pan as they do. This kick causes waves to develop in the gap where the particles have recently interacted with Pan (see PIA06099), and also throughout the ring, extending hundreds of kilometers into the rings. These waves intersect downstream to create the wakes, places where ring material has bunched up in an orderly manner thanks to Pan's gravitational kick.
In the bottom image, the bright stripes or wakes moving diagonally away from the gap's edges can be easily seen. The particles near the inner gap edge have most recently interacted with Pan and have just passed the moon. Because of this, the disturbances caused by Pan on the inner gap edge are ahead of the moon. The reverse is true at the outer edge: the particles have just been overtaken by Pan, leaving the wakes behind it.
This image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on May 18, 2005, at a distance of approximately 1.6 million kilometers (1 million miles) from Pan and at a Sun-Pan-spacecraft, or phase, angle of 44 degrees. The image scale is 9 kilometers (6 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 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.
This Cassini spacecraft view of Pan in the Encke gap shows hints of detail on the moon's dark side, which is lit by saturnshine -- sunlight reflected off Saturn.
Pan (26 kilometers, or 16 miles across) cruises the Encke gap (325 kilometers, or 200 miles wide) with several faint ringlets.
This view looks toward the lit side of the rings from about 52 degrees below the ringplane. The sunlit portion of Pan is partly overexposed.
The image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on Oct. 27, 2006 at a distance of approximately 385,000 kilometers (239,000 miles) from Pan and at a Sun-Pan-spacecraft, or phase, angle of 86 degrees. Image scale is 2 kilometers (1 mile) 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.
Embedded in Saturn's A ring is saucer-shaped Pan. The moon is seen here with two of the diffuse ringlets with which it shares the Encke Gap.
At the top of the scene, the inner edge of the broad gap displays both edge waves and wakes caused by Pan (26 kilometers, or 16 miles across).
The thin strands of the F ring are seen at lower right.
This view looks toward the unilluminated side of the rings from about 11 degrees above the ringplane. The image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on Feb. 12, 2008. The view was acquired at a distance of approximately 1.6 million kilometers (1 million miles) from Pan. Image scale is 10 kilometers (6 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 PIA09868: Encke Inhabitants sur le site de la NASA.
This Cassini image captured Saturn's moon Pan (25 kilometers, or 16 miles, across) just after the little moon emerged from Saturn's shadow. Pan orbits within the narrow Encke Gap (300 kilometers, or 186 miles, wide).
A faint hint of the narrow ringlet within the Encke Gap in earlier Cassini images (see PIA06554) is visible here.
Saturn's rings appear extremely overexposed due to the enhancement used to make Pan visible, but the processing technique also makes other faint features stand out. In addition to the bright, knotted core of the F ring, two faint nearby ringlets can be seen. At right, this view of the Cassini Division shows that there is actually a great amount of material embedded within it.
The image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow angle camera on Dec. 1, 2004, at a distance of approximately 4.1 million kilometers (2.5 million miles) from Saturn. The image scale is 25 kilometers (15 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 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.
Pan is seen in this color view as it sweeps through the Encke Gap with its attendant ringlets. As the lemon-shaped little moon orbits Saturn, it always keeps its long axis pointed along a line toward the planet. From this vantage point, the dark side of the moon is visible.
This view looks toward Pan (26 kilometers, or 16 miles across) within the Encke Gap (325 kilometers, or 200 miles wide), on the unlit side of the rings, and from an inclination of about 33 degrees above the ringplane.
Images taken using red, green and blue spectral filters were combined to create this natural color view. The image was taken with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on Dec. 16, 2006 at a distance of approximately 779,000 kilometers (484,000 miles) from Pan and at a Sun-Pan-spacecraft, or phase, angle of 83 degrees. Image scale is 5 kilometers (3 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.
Pan sits nestled in its gap, like a beacon on the far side of Saturn's rings. The especially bright region seen here is the Cassini Division.
This view looks toward the unilluminated side of the rings from about a degree above the ringplane. Pan is 26 kilometers (16 miles) across.
The image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on March 4, 2008. The view was obtained at a distance of approximately 1.3 million kilometers (817,000 miles) from Pan and at a Sun-Pan-spacecraft, or phase, angle of 11 degrees. Image scale is 8 kilometers (5 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.
Voir l'image PIA09879: Lighthouse Moon sur le site de la NASA.
Hiding within the Encke gap is the small moon Pan, partly in shadow and party cut off by the outer A ring in this view. Similar to Atlas, Pan appears to have a slight ridge around its middle; and like Atlas, Pan's orbit also coincides with a faint ringlet.
(See PIA08320 for a movie featuring Pan).
Pan is 26 kilometers (16 miles) across.
The image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on June 30, 2006 at a distance of approximately 269,000 kilometers (167,000 miles) from Pan. Image scale is 2 kilometers (5,259 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.
Curving wakes perturb the edges of the Encke Gap in Saturn's A ring. The culprit in their creation is the flying saucer-shaped moon Pan, shining brightly within the gap.
Ahead of Pan (26 kilometers, or 16 miles across at its widest point) are two narrow ringlets sharing the Encke Gap.
This view looks toward the unilluminated side of the rings from about 9 degrees above the ringplane. Saturn's F ring cuts across the lower right corner of the scene.
The image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on March 5, 2008. The view was obtained at a distance of approximately 1.4 million kilometers (889,000 miles) from Pan and at a Sun-Pan-spacecraft, or phase, angle of 21 degrees. Image scale is 9 kilometers (5 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.
Voir l'image PIA09883: Waking the A Ring sur le site de la NASA.
Saturn's moon Pan occupies the Encke Gap at the center of this image, which also displays some of the A ring's intricate wave structure. Pan is 26 kilometers (16 miles) across.
The two most prominent bright banded features seen on the left side of the image are spiral density waves, which propagate outward through Saturn's rings. The bright crests represent areas with higher ring particle densities.
The image was taken in visible green light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on Aug. 1, 2005, at a distance of approximately 794,000 kilometers (493,000 miles) from Pan. The image scale is 5 kilometers (3 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. For additional images visit the Cassini imaging team homepage http://ciclops.org.
p>The Cassini spacecraft looks toward the unilluminated side of Saturn's rings to spy on the moon Pan as it cruises through the Encke Gap.
This view looks toward the rings from about 13 degrees above the ringplane. At the top of the image lie the dark, outer B ring and the Cassini Division. The narrow F ring is also seen here as a bright thread beyond the A ring.
Pan is 26 kilometers (16 miles) across.
The image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on April 29, 2007 at a distance of approximately 1.7 million kilometers (1.1 million miles) from Pan. Image scale is 10 kilometers (6 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, walnut-shaped moon, Pan, embedded in the planet's rings, coasts along in this movie clip from the Cassini spacecraft.
The movie begins with Pan (26 kilometers, or 16 miles across) and the rings against the night side of Saturn. Cassini stays fixed on Pan as the moon heads toward the outside edge, or ansa, of the Encke Gap (325 kilometers, or 200 miles wide) in which it orbits. Saturn's dark shadow is seen stretching across the middle of the ringplane. Midway through the sequence, the far side of the rings emerges from behind the planet, but eventually is completely darkened by Saturn's shadow.
The small, bright moving object that appears from the lower left, near the end of the sequence, is a bright background star.
The 40 images in this movie were taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on April 29, 2006, at a distance of approximately 209,000 kilometers (130,000 miles) from Pan. The image scale is approximately 1 kilometer (0.6 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.