Cassini’s ring dive offers first close-up of Saturn’s cloud tops. Spacecraft images reveal stunning views of planet’s hurricane and more

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Cassini’s ring dive offers first close-up of Saturn’s cloud tops
Spacecraft images reveal stunning views of planet’s hurricane and more
By
Ashley Yeager
5:49pm, April 27, 2017
Saturn's atmosphere
 

Cassini has beamed back stunning images from the spacecraft’s daring dive between Saturn and its rings.

https://www.sciencenews.org/article/cassinis-ring-dive-offers-first-close-saturns-cloud-tops
The first closeup pictures of the planet’s atmosphere reveal peculiar threadlike clouds and puffy cumulus ones, plus the giant hurricane first spotted on Saturn in 2008 (SN: 11/8/08, p. 9). Released April 27, the images of Saturn’s cloud tops are a “big step forward” for understanding the planet’s atmosphere, says Cassini imaging team member Andy Ingersoll, an atmospheric scientist at Caltech.