JPL
Careers
Education
Science & Technology
JPL Logo
JPL Logo
Image

Flickering Aldebaran #1

Oct. 9, 2006
As NASA's Cassini watches the rings pass in front of the bright red giant star Aldebaran, the star's light fluctuates, providing information about the concentrations of ring particles within the various radial features in the rings.

The Cassini spacecraft took a series of images on Sept. 9, 2006 as it watched the bright red giant star Aldebaran slip behind Saturn's rings. This type of observation is known as a stellar occultation and uses a star whose brightness is well known. As Cassini watches the rings pass in front of the star, the star's light fluctuates, providing information about the concentrations of ring particles within the various radial features in the rings.

This view shows the Encke Gap (325 kilometers, or 200 miles wide) and the faint ringlets which share the gap with the embedded moon Pan. The view looks toward the sunlit side of the rings from about 19 degrees below the ringplane. Bright Aldebaran is overexposed, creating thin vertical lines on its image.

The image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on Sept. 9, 2006 at a distance of approximately 359,000 kilometers (233,000 miles) from Saturn. Image scale on the sky at the distance of Saturn 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.

Download JPG
Download TIFF
Mission
Target
  • S Rings
Spacecraft
  • Cassini Orbiter
Instrument
  • Imaging Science Subsystem - Narrow Angle
Credit
NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute

Keep Exploring

Slice of History - Happy 25th Anniversary, Cassini!

Enceladus in the Infrared (Map View)

Enceladus in the Infrared

Enceladus Global View with Plume (Artist's Rendering)

First Global Geologic Map of Titan

Enceladus Organics on Grains of Ice (Illustration)

Titan's Rimmed Lakes (Artist's Concept)

Texture Belts

Texture in the Outer Cassini Division

Mini-jets in the F Ring

Related Topics

QUIZZES .

Space Trivia

News .

NASA’s Psyche Delivers First Images and Other Data

News .

NASA’s 6-Pack of Mini-Satellites Ready for Their Moment in the Sun

News .

Webb Follows Neon Signs Toward New Thinking on Planet Formation

News .

Time Is Running Out to Add Your Name to NASA’s Europa Clipper

Robot .

EELS (Exobiology Extant Life Surveyor)

News .

NASA’s Juno Finds Jupiter’s Winds Penetrate in Cylindrical Layers

News .

Construction on NASA Mission to Map 450 Million Galaxies Is Under Way

News .

First Science Images Released From ESA Mission With NASA Contributions

News .

NASA’s Curiosity Rover Clocks 4,000 Days on Mars

About JPL
Who We Are
Executive Council
Directors
Careers
Internships
The JPL Story
JPL Achievements
Documentary Series
Annual Reports
JPL Plan: 2023-2026
Missions
Current
Past
Future
All
News
All
Earth
Solar System
Stars and Galaxies
Subscribe to JPL News
Galleries
Images
Videos
Audio
Podcasts
Apps
Visions of the Future
Slice of History
Robotics at JPL
Events
Lecture Series
Team Competitions
Speakers Bureau
Calendar
Visit
Public Tours
Virtual Tour
Directions and Maps
Topics
JPL Life
Solar System
Mars
Earth
Climate Change
Exoplanets
Stars and Galaxies
Robotics
More
Asteroid Watch
NASA's Eyes Visualizations
Universe - Internal Newsletter
Social Media
Get the Latest from JPL
Follow Us

JPL is a federally funded research and development center managed for NASA by Caltech.

More from JPL
Careers Education Science & Technology Acquisition JPL Store
Careers
Education
Science & Technology
Acquisition
JPL Store
Related NASA Sites
Basics of Spaceflight
Climate Kids
Earth / Global Climate Change
Exoplanet Exploration
Mars Exploration
Solar System Exploration
Space Place
NASA's Eyes Visualization Project
Voyager Interstellar Mission
NASA
Caltech
Privacy
Image Policy
FAQ
Feedback
Site Managers: Veronica McGregor, Randal Jackson
Site Editors: Tony Greicius, Naomi Hartono
CL#: 21-0018