SATURN

71 light-minutes

This strikingly detailed image of Saturn was captured by the Cassini spacecraft. Shadows cast by the rings are seen in the planet's northern hemisphere. In the southern hemisphere are stormy grey areas. The Cassini- Huygens spacecraft was launched in 1997 to investigate Saturn, its rings and its moons. 126 images have been combined to form this view. They were all taken over a period of two hours at a distance of 6.3 million kilometres from Saturn on 6 October 2004.

Credit: NASA / Cassini-Huygens.