suss out out that flat apparition crossing Saturn ’s closed chain . It ’s the shadow of Mimas , one of Saturn ’s moons , and its appearance mean we ’re getting tight to Saturn ’s equinox , when it ’ll be leaping in the North and the pack will go dark .
Saturn ’s equinoctial point only happens about once every fifteen years , and it ’s when the sun crosses the plane of Saturn ’s ring . Before that happens , you start to see the shadow of Saturn ’s moon across the ring . According to Astronomy Now :
During this celestial alignment , the shadows of the planet ’s rings fall in the equatorial area on the planet , and the shadows of Saturn ’s Moon external to the rings , specially those whose orbits are inclined with respect to the equator , set out to intersect the major planet ’s rings . Any vertical protuberances within the rings , include modest embedded moon and narrow-minded perpendicular warps in the rings will also project tincture on the ring . At exactly the moment of equinoctial point , the shadows of the ring on the planet will be confine to a thin telephone circuit around Saturn ’s equator and the rings themselves will go dark , being crystalize only on their edge .
So you could expect to see some more spectacular vistas from Saturn , thanks to the Cassini Space Probe ’s Imaging Science Subsystem , point up by Star Trek science advisor Carolyn Porco . Right now , Cassini ’s land site includes some more images , and some movies of the Mimas ’ trace crossing the rings , and fellow moon Enceladus eclipse Mimas . Check it out . [ CICLOPS ]
Saturn
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