토성의 아름다운 소용돌이들

Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute

NASA 카시니호가 미묘하고 다양한 색감의 구름이 두르고 있고 토성의 북반구를 바라보고 있다.

 

하단 왼쪽으로는 밤과 낮의 경계가 보인다.

태양빛은 이 주야경계선을 따라 낮은 각도로 들어오고 있고 이곳에서 상층 대기의 수직 구조가 확연히 그 모습을 보여주고 있다.

좀더 높은 구름의 그림자가 아랫쪽으로 드리워진 모습을 만들어내며 몇몇 수직 구조가 명확하게 그 모습을 드러내고 있는 것이다. 

 

카시니호는 삼원색 분광 필터를 이용하여 이 장면을 촬영하였고, 그 결과 데이터가 자연색을 갖춘 이 사진으로 합성되었다. 

 

사진이 촬영된 때는 2017년 8월 31일이며 사진을 촬영할 당시 토성까지의 거리는 110만 킬로미터였다. 

사진의 해상도는 픽셀당 6킬로미터이다.

 

출처 : NASA 제트추진연구소(JPL, Jet Propulsion Laboratory) Photo Journal

       https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA21888

 

참고 : 다양한 토성의 풍경 등, 토성과 토성의 여러 달에 대한 각종 포스팅은 아래 링크를 통해 조회할 수 있습니다. 
           https://big-crunch.tistory.com/12346948

 

원문>

PIA21888: Dreamy Swirls on Saturn 

Original Caption Released with Image:

NASA's Cassini spacecraft gazed toward the northern hemisphere of Saturn to spy subtle, multi-hued bands in the clouds there.

This view looks toward the terminator -- the dividing line between night and day -- at lower left. The sun shines at low angles along this boundary, in places highlighting vertical structure in the clouds. Some vertical relief is apparent in this view, with higher clouds casting shadows over those at lower altitude.

Images taken with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera using red, green and blue spectral filters were combined to create this natural-color view. The images were acquired on Aug. 31, 2017, at a distance of approximately 700,000 miles (1.1 million kilometers) from Saturn. Image scale is about 4 miles (6 kilometers) per pixel.

The Cassini mission is a cooperative project of NASA, ESA (the European Space Agency) and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of Caltech in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras were designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The imaging operations center is based at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colorado.

The Cassini mission is a cooperative project of NASA, ESA (the European Space Agency) and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of Caltech in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras were designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The imaging operations center is based at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colorado.

For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit https://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov and https://www.nasa.gov/cassini. The Cassini imaging team homepage is at https://ciclops.org.

Image Credit:NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute
Image Addition Date:2017-09-12