Cassini instruments provide complementary information about the structure
of Saturn's rings. Narrow and wide angle cameras provide images in the
visible region of the electromagnetic, spectrum much like a digital camera
does. The images have information about how the ring structure differs
both with distance from the planet and with position around the equatorial
circle. However, resolution is usually limited to few kilometers at best.
Radio and stellar occultations of the rings also provide important
information about ring structure, but only along a one-dimensional track
through the rings. The radial resolution can be as fine as 50 meters (164
feet). An "image" is then constructed by assuming circular symmetry over
the ring region of interest. Color is usually added to encode other
information related to the observed structure.
This image compares structure of Saturn's rings observed by these two
approaches. The upper half is a natural color mosaic of images by the
Cassini narrow-angle camera (see PIA06175). The bottom simulated
images is constructed from a radio occultation observation conducted on
May 3, 2005. Color in the lower image is used to represent information
about ring particle sizes. For another view created using this process
(see PIA07872).
The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the
European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet
Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology
in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission
Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter was designed,
developed and assembled at JPL. The radio science team is based
at JPL. The imaging team is based at the Space Science Institute,
Boulder, Colo.
For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit
http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov. For more information on the
radio science team visit http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/spacecraft/instruments-cassini-rss.cfm.
The imaging team homepage is at http://ciclops.org.
