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Earth and Moon through Saturn's Rings

Earth and Moon through Saturn's Rings

What are those dots between Saturn's rings? Our Earth and Moon . Just over three years ago, because the Sun was temporarily blocked by the body of Saturn, the robotic Cassini spacecraft was able to look toward the inner Solar System . There, it spotted our Earth and Moon -- just pin-pricks of light lying about 1.4 billion kilometers distant. Toward the right of the featured image is Saturn's A ring , with the broad Encke Gap on the far right and the narrower Keeler Gap toward the center. On the far left is Saturn's continually changing F Ring . From this perspective , the light seen from Saturn's rings was scattered mostly forward , and so appeared back lit. After more than a decade of exploration and discovery, the Cassini spacecraft ran low on fuel in 2017 and was directed to enter Saturn's atmosphere , where it surely melted.

Gallery: Notable Venus & Mercury Conjunction 2020 Images submitted to APOD

Media Credits & Attribution

Image Credit: NASA , ESA , JPL-Caltech , SSI , Cassini Imaging Team ; Processing & License : Kevin M. Gill