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NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day

🌌 NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day

Saturn in Color Credit:

Date: 1997-03-12

Saturn in Color
Credit:

View HD Image

Explanation:

Saturn
is unusual but photogenic. The second largest planet in our Solar System,
behind Jupiter, has been easily identifiable
at night since history has been recorded. It was only with the
invention of the telescope,
however, that any evidence of its majestic ring system became apparent.
Saturn itself is composed of mostly hydrogen and helium gas.
Saturn's rings
are composed of many ice chunks ranging in size from a penny to
car. The above picture
of Saturn
is one of the earliest taken by the Hubble Space Telescope
and is a digital reconstruction of three color images. The Cassini mission
to Saturn
is scheduled to be launched later this year and should reach Saturn
in 2004.