NASA's Cassini releases mind-blowing images of Saturn rings

NASA's Cassini spacecraft is now in its â€œRing-Grazingâ€ orbits phase.

Update: 2017-01-31 04:27 GMT

NASA's Cassini spacecraft. (Photo: Nasa)

This image from NASA's Cassini mission shows a region in Saturn's A ring. The level of detail is twice as high as this part of the rings has ever been seen before. The view contains many small, bright blemishes due to cosmic rays and charged particle radiation near the planet.

This image shows a region in Saturn's outer B ring. NASA's Cassini spacecraft viewed this area at a level of detail twice as high as it had ever been observed before. And from this view, it is clear that there are still finer details to uncover.

This image shows a region in Saturn's outer B ring. NASA's Cassini spacecraft viewed this area at a level of detail twice as high as it had ever been observed before.

This Cassini image features a density wave in Saturn's A ring (at left) that lies around 134,500 km from Saturn. Density waves are accumulations of particles at certain distances from the planet. This feature is filled with clumpy perturbations, which researchers informally refer to as \"straw.\" The wave itself is created by the gravity of the moons Janus and Epimetheus, which share the same orbit around Saturn. Elsewhere, the scene is dominated by \"wakes\" from a recent pass of the ring moon Pan.

NASA's Cassini spacecraft is now in its â€œRing-Grazingâ€ orbits phase.

NASA's Cassini releases mind-blowing images of Saturn rings

NASA's Cassini spacecraft is now in its â€œRing-Grazingâ€ orbits phase.

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NASA's Cassini spacecraft is now in its â€œRing-Grazingâ€ orbits phase.