Saturn's rings appear strangely warped in this view of the rings seen
through the upper Saturn atmosphere.
The atmosphere acts like a lens in refracting (bending) the light
reflected from the rings. As the rings pass behind the overexposed limb
(edge) of Saturn as seen from Cassini, the ring structure appears to
curve downward due to the bending of the light as it passes through the
upper atmosphere.
This image was obtained using a near-infrared filter. The filter samples
a wavelength where methane gas does not absorb light, thus making the
far-off rings visible through the upper atmosphere.
By comparing this image to similar ones taken using filters where methane
gas does absorb, scientists can estimate the vertical profile of haze and
the abundance of methane in Saturn's high atmosphere.
The image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft
narrow-angle camera on April 14, 2005, through a filter sensitive to
wavelengths of infrared light centered at 938 nanometers and at a
distance of approximately 197,000 kilometers (123,000 miles) from Saturn.
The image scale is 820 meters (2,680 feet) per pixel.
