Optical Illusion In NASA Image Gives Saturn's Rings Unusual Appearance
- 8 years ago
Two of Saturn’s rings appear to be bent in an image recently released by NASA.
Two of Saturn’s rings appear to be bent in an image recently released by NASA.
A press release issued by the agency reveals that the optical illusion from the A and F rings has occurred because the planet’s “atmosphere acts here like a very big lens.”
It goes on to explain that as “some of the light reflected by the rings...passes from space to the atmosphere and back out into space towards Cassini’s cameras, its path is refracted, or bent. The result is that the ring's image appears warped.”
The image was taken by the Cassini spacecraft on June 9, 2016 when it was approximately 1.1 million miles away.
As the NASA piece states, the “view looks toward the sunlit side of the rings from about 18 degrees above the ring plane.”
Two of Saturn’s rings appear to be bent in an image recently released by NASA.
A press release issued by the agency reveals that the optical illusion from the A and F rings has occurred because the planet’s “atmosphere acts here like a very big lens.”
It goes on to explain that as “some of the light reflected by the rings...passes from space to the atmosphere and back out into space towards Cassini’s cameras, its path is refracted, or bent. The result is that the ring's image appears warped.”
The image was taken by the Cassini spacecraft on June 9, 2016 when it was approximately 1.1 million miles away.
As the NASA piece states, the “view looks toward the sunlit side of the rings from about 18 degrees above the ring plane.”