Cassini images of Saturn's dynamic atmosphere, like this detailed view,
will be combined with data from the spacecraft's two infrared-sensing
instruments (the Visible and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer and the
Composite Infrared Spectrometer) to measure correlations among cloud
features at many altitudes and infer heat flow across the planet.
The numerous small, white blobs generally indicate disturbed and turbulent
regions.
The image was taken with the Cassini spacecraft wide-angle camera on May
22, 2006 at a distance of approximately 331,000 kilometers (206,000 miles)
from Saturn. The image was obtained using a spectral filter sensitive to
wavelengths of infrared light centered at 752 nanometers. Image scale is
16 kilometers (10 miles) per pixel.
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 and its two onboard cameras were designed, developed and
assembled at JPL. The imaging operations center is based at the Space
Science Institute in Boulder, Colo.
For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit
http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/home/index.cfm. The Cassini imaging
team homepage is at http://ciclops.org.
