Awesome picture of Saturn released by NASA today.

[Kadie]

This photo released by NASA Thursday, March 1, 2007, shows an image of the planet Saturn obtained with the Cassini spacecraft wide-angle camera on Jan. 19, 2007, as the planet's shadow stretches completely across the rings. The view is a mosaic of 36 images taken over the course of about 2.5 hours, as Cassini scanned across the entire main ring system. (AP Photo/NASA, JPL)

[myrna minx]

1. Wow. That is just breathtaking.

Thanks for posting.

[Swede]

2. Cool.

Thanks for posting this beautiful picture.

[krispos42]

3. You'll upset the Flat-Earthers again :-)

[Aristus]

23. Satern c'n be round if it wants ta be, but th'Earth is FLAT!

God made it that way so we wudden fall OFF, so there. Ain't no peepul on Satern, so God made it round to test are fayth!

[A Simple Game]

26. Of course there are no people on Saturn, do you think we are all stupid?

The people live on the FLAT rings, DUH!

[krispos42]

39. Oh, of course....

How foolish of me to not think of that...

:rofl:

[ozymandius]

27. Naw. It's easy to explain the difference.

Earth is flat because it's made of dirt. Saturn is round because it's made of gas - kinda like a fart.

[azurnoir]

4. It's so surreal

If it had not been posted as a NASA photo I'd have thought it was an illustration.

[tridim]

21. Makes me want to read "2001" again.

The book is worth it just for the Saturn/Iapetus chapters.

[Emit]

33. My thoughts exactly. n/t

[Dorian Gray]

40. Me too...

It looks like a book's illustration. But, it's a really neat photo. Thanks for sharing, OP!

[Mandate My Ass]

5. Kewl. Saturn is supposed to very visible this evening

on the eastern horizon, I think. Even with a cheapie telescope you'll be able to see the rings. Unfortunately it's already clouding up here in Philly and it's supposed to rain all night. x(

[devilgrrl]

10. I got to see saturn at griffith park a few years back...

pretty damned cool!

[Mandate My Ass]

16. I'll bet it was

I just found out by accident that Drexel University's observatory has public viewing nights, so if I don't see it tonight, I'll be able to see it soon. I work about two blocks away from there.

[devilgrrl]

30. What was interesting was that rings were at a 180° angle...

they're usually at 90° in pictures! :silly:

[Ediacara]

6. That's amazing

What I think is coolest though is that Saturn is so bright and the rings so thin you can see the planet through the rings in the lower part of the of the photo, yet the rings still cast a pretty strong shadow!

Incredible photo!

[bdamomma]

7. what a beautiful picture!

[originalpckelly]

8. It looks like a "c"

Or is that just me?

[helderheid]

12. "c" is for cookie and it's good enough for me!

[Zavulon]

9. Amazing.

Thanks for posting this.

[Ishoutandscream2]

11. Thanks for not showing a picture of Uranus

:silly:

[helderheid]

13. ...

:spray:

[Kadie]

19. .

:rofl:

[Straight Shooter]

24. *snicker*

:spank:

[NanceGreggs]

14. Thanks for sharing this ...

It really IS beautiful, isn't it?

We have a fairly good telescope, but unfortunately I don't think it will do us much good tonight. Right now, the snow is falling so thickly, I can't see the houses across the street!

[Skidmore]

15. At last, a halo without a Republic politician's head superimposed on it.

What a beautiful sight.

[TommyO]

17. More images here

http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/home/index.cfm

[Kadie]

20. Thanks for the link!

:hi:

[byronius]

34. That's the most compelling photo I've seen yet. Great pick.

This is very moving -- I want to go. So badly.

On Edit -- Actually, I ws talking about OxQQMe's picture of Iapetus below. Oops.

[leftofthedial]

18. Obviously faked

I'm no scientist, but see how the "planet" is in front of the "rings" at the bottom?

(I'm kidding, BTW)

Pretty though.

Meanwhile, can anybody spare a few thousand bucks for some health care for me and my kids?

[redqueen]

22. So pretty...

Thanks for posting it.

[corkhead]

25. new bitchin' desktop wallpaper.

[TommyO]

28. Same here - it crops nicely to 1680x1050 for my 20"

widescreen display. Now I need a good "spacey" Mac screensaver.

[malaise]

29. Beautiful n/t

[OxQQme]

31. Let's not forget the other 'moons'

Iapetus is a total mystery.

http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/multimedia/images/image-details.cfm?imageID=1270

http://www.enterprisemission.com/moon1.htm

[byronius]

35. Iapetus is freaking me out.

I've got to hop around that landscape.

Let's go!

[EstimatedProphet]

32. Stunning

So beautiful.

[OxQQme]

36. Just wondering if anybody checked out

the 'enterprisemission' link and followed it through all the pages? And what your thoughts are......
<snip>
-- the official NASA report of almost 50 years ago (1959) -- which warned the U. S. Government that any scientific evidence of extraterrestrial intelligence “could be destabilizing to terrestrial governmental institutions … if not the future of civilization ….”

[spacelady]

37. Saturn Fiestaware? Beautiful!

[Cha]

38. Saturn is a beautiful Planet!

The Lord of Karma.

[Lilith Velkor]

41. ooo pretty!