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04/23/2024 01:26:04 pm

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Saturn's Moons Pose For An Incredible Cosmic Bull's Eye

Saturn's moons, Enceladus and Tethys line up almost perfectly for Cassini's cameras.

(Photo : NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute) Saturn's moons, Enceladus and Tethys line up almost perfectly for Cassini's cameras.

NASA's Cassini spacecraft captured one of the most stunning images of Saturn and two of its moons where the probe has been travelling around the majestic ringed system for already more than a decade. 

This latest image is a high resolution photograph of Saturn's moon Enceladus and Tethys, which are the more well known moons, in an uncanny near perfect alignment. Enceladus, which is the smaller moon, appears to be the bull's eye in this extremely rare moment. 

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The two natural satellites' similar distances were captured by the Cassini spacecraft in this image that allowed observers to compare the sizes Enceladus and Tethys.  Enceladus is measured at 313 miles in diameter and the bigger moon Tethys looms over at 660 miles wide.

This moon transit was captured last September 24, where the Cassini probe was located at a distance of 1.3 millions miles from Enceladus and some 1.6 million miles from Tethys. This would indicate that the two moons would be just 300,000 miles away from each other.

The Cassini space mission is done in collaboration with the Italian Space Agency, the European Space Agency and NASA. The Cassini probe is also managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and California Institute of Technology (Caltech) in Pasadena, California.

NASA's JPL is also responsible for developing and building the Cassini orbiter including the two onboard cameras of the spacecraft. The images are beamed back to Earth and processed by the Space Science Institute's imaging operations center.

To date, mission scientists are closely monitoring Enceladus since past data from Cassini suggest that the moon could possibly possess a global ocean underneath its icy crust. This massive body of water can also hold clues about life giving elements as well.

On December 19, the Cassini spacecraft will conduct its final flyby of Enceladus where it will become the probe's 22nd one, that will spiral down within 3,106 miles of the surface of the moon.

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