PIA01951: Saturn's F-ring and inner satellite

Target Name: S Rings Is a satellite of: Saturn Mission: Voyager Spacecraft: Voyager 2 Instrument: Imaging Science Subsystem - Narrow Angle Product Size: 520 samples x 350 lines Produced By: JPL Producer ID: P23951 Addition Date: 1999-04-11 Primary Data Set: Voyager EDRs Full-Res TIFF: PIA01951.tif (50.71 kB) Full-Res JPEG: PIA01951.jpg (74.72 kB)

Original Caption Released with Image: Saturn's F-ring and its inner shepherding satellite (1980S27) are pictured in this closeup Voyager 2 image acquired Aug. 25 from a range of 365,000 kilometers (227,000 miles). Features as small as 6 km. (3.7 mi.) across are visible. The satellite is elongated and irregular, with its longest axis pointing toward the center of Saturn (toward the upper right in this view). As seen here, the F-ring is thin and does not show the multiple, braided structure Voyager 1 saw last fall. Nor is there any indication of a band or kink in the ring at its closest point to the shepherd; such a feature would be consistent with some of the theories advanced on the formation of the braids. The Voyager project is managed for NASA by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. Image Credit: NASA/JPL