PIA07786 Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute

The Cassini spacecraft delivers this stunning vista showing small, battered Epimetheus and smog-enshrouded Titan, with Saturn's A and F rings stretching across the scene.

The prominent dark region visible in the A ring is the Encke Gap, in which the moon Pan and several narrow ringlets reside. Moon-driven features that mark the A ring are easily seen to the left and right of the Encke Gap. The Encke Gap is 325 kilometers wide. Pan is 26 kilometers across.

In an optical illusion, the narrow F ring, outside the A ring, appears to fade across the disk of Titan. A couple of bright clumps can be seen in the F ring.

Epimetheus is 116 kilometers across and giant Titan is 5,150 kilometers across.

The image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on April 28, 2006, at a distance of approximately 667,000 kilometers from Epimetheus and 1.8 million kilometers from Titan. The image captures the illuminated side of the rings. The image scale is 4 kilometers per pixel on Epimetheus and 11 kilometers per pixel on Titan.

PIA06586 Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute

Saturn's complex rings are both an intriguing scientific puzzle and a supreme natural wonder. This view shows, from upper right to lower left, the thin C ring, multi-toned B ring, the dark Cassini Division, the A ring and narrow F ring.

At the bottom, Saturn's moon Mimas (398 kilometers across) orbits about 45,000 kilometers beyond the bright core of the F ring. The little moon is heavily cratered and is thought to be largely composed of water ice. The bright speck just outside of (below) the F ring is the shepherd moon Pandora (84 kilometers across).

The image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow angle camera on Jan. 19, 2005, at a distance of 1.8 million kilometers from Saturn. The image scale is 11 kilometers per pixel. Pandora was brightened by a factor of seven to aid visibility.

PIA06604 Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute

Saturn's biggest and brightest moons are visible in this portrait by Cassini.

Titan (5,150 kilometers across) is Saturn's largest moon and appears at the lower left. Note that some details in the moon's smoggy atmosphere are visible here. Rhea (1,500 kilometers across) is the planet's second largest moon and is seen above center. Enceladus (500 kilometers across) has the brightest surface in the solar system, reflecting nearly all of the sunlight that falls upon it. Enceladus is just above the rings, left of center. Titan was on the far side of the planet at the time of this exposure, while the other moons were on the near side, much closer to Cassini.

Also seen here are details in the cloud bands of Saturn's mostly hydrogen atmosphere, variations in brightness across the dazzling rings and magnificent ring shadows cast upon the northern hemisphere.

The image was taken with the Cassini spacecraft wide-angle camera on Feb. 5, 2005, at a distance of approximately 3.4 million kilometers from Saturn through a filter sensitive to wavelengths of infrared light centered at 728 nanometers. The image scale is 200 kilometers per pixel.

PIA07644 Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute

In a rare moment, the Cassini spacecraft captured this enduring portrait of a near-alignment of four of Saturn's restless moons. Timing is critical when trying to capture a view of multiple bodies, like this one. All four of the moons seen here were on the far side of the rings from the spacecraft when this image was taken; and about an hour later, all four had disappeared behind Saturn.

Seen here are Titan (5,150 kilometers across) and Dione (1,126 kilometers across) at bottom; Prometheus (102 kilometers across) hugs the rings at center; Telesto (24 kilometers across) is a mere speck in the darkness above center.

This image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on Oct. 17, 2005, at a distance of approximately 3.4 million kilometers from Titan and 2.5 million kilometers from Dione. The image scale is 16 kilometers per pixel on Dione and 21 kilometers per pixel on Titan.

PIA08849 Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute

Prometheus dips into the inner F ring at its farthest point from Saturn in its orbit, creating a dark gore and a corresponding bright streamer. Gores created during previous apoapsis (the name for the farthest point in an orbit) passes, are seen above. The older gores are farther behind the moon in its orbit of Saturn.

This view looks toward the unlit side of the rings from about 31 degrees above the ringplane. Prometheus is 102 kilometers across.

The image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on Nov. 1, 2006 at a distance of approximately 1.7 million kilometers from Saturn and at a Sun-Saturn-spacecraft, or phase, angle of 162 degrees. Image scale is 10 kilometers per pixel.

PIA08192 Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute

Saturn's moons Janus and Prometheus look close enough to touch in this stunningly detailed view.

From just beneath the ringplane, Cassini stares at Janus (181 kilometers across) on the near side of the rings and Prometheus (102 kilometers across) on the far side. The image shows that Prometheus is more elongated than Janus.

The view takes in the Cassini Division (4,800 kilometers wide), from its outer edge to about halfway across its width.

The image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on April 29, 2006 at a distance of approximately 218,000 kilometers from Janus and 379,000 kilometers from Prometheus. Image scale is about 1 kilometer per pixel on Janus and 2 kilometers per pixel on Prometheus.

PIA07604 Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute

Saturn's moon Pandora glides in front of the narrow F ring, making the moon's oblong outline visible. The image also shows the A ring, Cassini Division, B ring, and part of the C ring. This view is from beneath the ring plane. Pandora is 84 kilometers across.

The image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on Aug. 23, 2005, at a distance of approximately 1.6 million kilometers from Pandora and at a Sun-Pandora-spacecraft, or phase, angle of 97 degrees. Resolution in the original image was 9 kilometers per pixel.

PIA07628 Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute

This excellent grouping of three moons -- Dione, Tethys and Pandora -- near the rings provides a sampling of the diversity of worlds that exists in Saturn's realm.

A 330-kilometer-wide impact basin can be seen near the bottom right on Dione (at left). Ithaca Chasma and the region imaged during the Cassini spacecraft's Sept. 24, 2005, flyby can be seen on Tethys (middle). Little Pandora makes a good showing here as well, displaying a hint of surface detail.

Tethys is on the far side of the rings in this view; Dione and Pandora are much nearer to the Cassini spacecraft. Dione is 1,126 kilometers across. Tethys is 1,071 kilometers across and Pandora is 84 kilometers across.

This image was taken in visible blue light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on Sept. 22, 2005, at a distance of approximately 1.2 million kilometers (800,000 miles) from Saturn. The image scale is about 5 kilometers per pixel on Dione and Pandora and 9 kilometers per pixel on Tethys.

PIA07515 Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute

This spectacular and disorienting maze of lines is a Cassini portrait of the gas giant Saturn, its rings and its small, icy moon Mimas. The rings cast dark shadows across Saturn's northern hemisphere, creating a photonegative effect: dark sections are dense and block the Sun, while bright sections are less dense areas or gaps in the rings, which are more transparent to sunlight.

Saturn's moon Mimas (397 kilometers across) is seen here against the backdrop created by the shadow of the dense B ring. Above Mimas and the B ring shadow can be seen the broad gap of the Cassini Division. The actual Cassini Division, which divides the A and B rings, is visible about one-third of the way up from the bottom of the image.

This view was obtained in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on Oct. 15, 2004, at a distance of approximately 4.7 million kilometers from Saturn. The image scale is 28 kilometers per pixel.

This image was taken from beneath the plane of Saturn's rings. It is similar to the serene portrait provided by Cassini in a natural color view from November, 2004 (see PIA06142).

PIA07786 Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute

The Cassini spacecraft delivers this stunning vista showing small, battered Epimetheus and smog-enshrouded Titan, with Saturn's A and F rings stretching across the scene.

The prominent dark region visible in the A ring is the Encke Gap, in which the moon Pan and several narrow ringlets reside. Moon-driven features that mark the A ring are easily seen to the left and right of the Encke Gap. The Encke Gap is 325 kilometers wide. Pan is 26 kilometers across.

In an optical illusion, the narrow F ring, outside the A ring, appears to fade across the disk of Titan. A couple of bright clumps can be seen in the F ring.

PIA07809 Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute

Daphnis, the tiny moon that inhabits the Keeler Gap in the outer edge of Saturn's A ring, is captured here in remarkable detail with its entourage of waves.

The edge waves are especially bright in places where ring material piles up, a characteristic that has been seen in computer simulations of the interactions between gap-embedded moons and the surrounding ring particles.

The 7 kilometer-wide moon appears to have an unusual shape in this image. It is not simply a bright dot, but instead exhibits a dimmer component immediately to its left. Though it is far from certain, this component may be ring material caught in the act of accreting onto Daphnis, a process currently being studied by imaging scientists.

The image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on Sept. 9, 2006, at a distance of approximately 422,000 kilometers from Saturn. Image scale is 2 kilometers per pixel.

PIA08228 Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute

The Cassini spacecraft looks across the unlit ringplane as Mimas glides silently in front of Dione.

It is often difficult to tell from two-dimensional views like this where the moons are in relation to each other and Cassini. In this instance, Mimas (397 kilometers across) is on the side of Saturn closest to Cassini and Dione (1,126 kilometers across) is on the far side of the planet.

Dione's night side is dimly lit by reflected light from Saturn. Much of the planet's sunlit side would be visible from the dark terrain seen here on Dione. Saturn's shadow stretches across the rings at the bottom of the image.

The image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on July 3, 2006 at a distance of approximately 1.6 million kilometers from Mimas and 2.2 million kilometers from Dione. The view was obtained at a Sun-moon-spacecraft, or phase, angle of about 146 degrees relative to both moons. Image scale is 10 kilometers per pixel on Mimas and 13 kilometers on Dione.

N00055798 Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute

Heavily cratered Janus is dwarfed by mighty Titan, even though it’s on the near side of the rings. Titan's smoggy atmosphere glows brilliantly in scattered sunlight, creating the, gleaming crescent beyond Saturn's rings. At this angle the thin F ring shines brightly too.

Titan shines beyond the rings like a brilliant ring of fire, its light gleaming here and there through the gaps in Saturn's magnificent plane of ice. Titan (5,150 kilometers across) is surrounded by a thick photochemical haze which scatters the Sun's light.

The image was taken on March 21, 2006 at a distance of 724,179 kilometers from Janus.