Check. This. Out. What an amazing shot from Cassini!
Holy Haleakala! How gorgeous is that?This picture really threw me for a minute. I couldn't figure it out! Obviously, you're seeing the night side of Saturn; the planet itself is an almost entirely dark disk. The bright curve you see at the edge is sunlight scattered by the upper atmosphere -- the break in the curve near the top is from the shadow of the rings! But you can also see the moon Enceladus, too: the plumes of water geysers off the southern pole (at the bottom) are obvious. When this shot was taken, Cassini had to look past Saturn to see Enceladus; that is, the moon was farther from Cassini than the planet was. OK, cool enough, but the problem is Enceladus looks like it's full, as if we're seeing the side completely lit by the Sun. How can that ...
