NASA Releases Stunning Photos of Saturn ‘Cutting’ Its Moon in Half

By Kenny Servera 2 min read

We are slowly getting more knowledge of the planets and the universe. Especially our ringed planet, Saturn.

NASA recently released a series of high definition photos of the sixth planet from the sun and the images look breathtaking. One image that sticks out shows one of Saturn’s 62 moons, Dione, in which it appears to be cut in half. You can check out the breathtaking photo taken by the Cassini-Huygens spacecraft below.

This image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on Dec. 25, 2015. The view was acquired at a distance of approximately 1.4 million miles (2.3 million kilometers) from Dione and at a “Sun-Dione spacecraft angle” of 115 degrees, said NASA.

The Cassini-Huygens mission started on October 15, 1997 and entered Saturn’s orbit on July 1, 2004. The purpose of the mission is to determine the three-dimensional structure and dynamic behavior of the rings of Saturn and study the dynamic behavior of Saturn’s atmosphere at cloud level.

Space exploration is such a cool thing.

If you like to know more about the ringed planet, check out some of the other photos NASA released of Saturn and its moon below:

Saturn’s moon Tethys appears to float between two sets of rings in this view, but it’s just a trick of geometry. The…

Posted by NASA – National Aeronautics and Space Administration on Monday, February 8, 2016

Behold, Saturn seen in wavelengths of light that are absorbed by methane. Dark areas are the regions where light travels…

Posted by NASA – National Aeronautics and Space Administration on Monday, February 1, 2016

Janus and Tethys, two of Saturn’s moons, demonstrate the main difference between small and large satellites. Moons like…

Posted by NASA – National Aeronautics and Space Administration on Tuesday, January 19, 2016