Question

Pictures taken by the Cassini spacecraft show that the rings surrounding Saturn have dark and light bands. Until these pictures were taken, scientists on Earth did not know about this difference in color. Why was the Cassini spacecraft able to take pictures of the dark and light bands in Saturn’s rings while they are not visible from Earth?

Answer 1

Answer:

Infrared images also show thermal, or heat, radiation. While a visible-light image from this vantage point would simply show the face of the planet as dimly lit by sunlight reflected off the rings, Saturn glows brightly in this view because of heat from Saturn's interior.

In a second version of the image, scientists "stretched" or exaggerated the contrast of the data, which brings out subtleties not initially visible.

When these small particles are lit from behind, they show up like fog in the headlights of an oncoming vehicle.

• The C ring also appears relatively bright here; not because it is made of dust, but because the material in it -- mostly dirty water ice -- is translucent. In fact, in the 18th and 19th centuries, it was known as the "crepe ring" because of its supposed similarity to crepe paper.

• The wide, middle ring known as the B ring -- one of the easiest to see from Earth through telescopes because it is densely packed with chunks of bright water ice -- looks dark in these images because it is so thick that it blocks almost all of the sunlight shining behind it.

Explanation:

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