Over Saturn's Turbulent North Pole
Image Credit: Cassini Imaging Team, SSI, JPL, ESA, NASA
Explanation: The Cassini spacecraft's
Grand Finale at Saturn has begun. The
Grand Finale will allow Cassini to explore Saturn and some of Saturn's moons and rings in unprecedented detail. The
first phase started two weeks ago when a close flyby of Titan changed Cassini's orbit into one that passes near Saturn's poles and just outside of Saturn's outermost
F-ring.
Featured here is an image taken during the first of Cassini's 20 week-long
F-ring orbits around Saturn. Visible are the
central polar vortex on the upper left, a
hexagonal cloud boundary through the image center, and numerous light-colored turbulent storm systems. In 2017 April,
Cassini will again use the gravity of Titan to begin a new series of 22
Proximal orbits -- trajectories that will take Cassini inside of
Saturn's rings for the first time.
Cassini's new science adventure is scheduled to end on 2017 September 17, though, when the
robotic spacecraft will be directed into a dramatic
mission-ending dive into Saturn's atmosphere.
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