<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/lGP8F.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/lGP8F.png" alt="enter image description here" /></a></p>
<p>(<a href="https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/jpl/pia21895/cassinis-final-image" rel="nofollow noreferrer">image source</a>)</p>
<p>This is the last image taken by the imaging cameras on Cassini spacecraft. The image was taken in visible light using the Cassini's wide-angle camera at a distance of 394,000 miles (634,000 kilometers) from Saturn. Image scale is about 11 miles (17 kilometers). It looks toward the planet's night side, lit by reflected light from the rings, and shows the location at which the spacecraft would enter the planet's atmosphere hours later (Saturn would rotate into daylight by the time Cassini made its final dive into Saturn's upper atmosphere).</p>
<p>This image is actually in natural color view, created using images taken with red, green and blue spectral filters. The imaging cameras obtained this view at approximately the same time that Cassini's visual and infrared mapping spectrometer made its own observations of the impact area in the thermal infrared.</p>
<p>The view was acquired on Sept. 14, 2017 at 19:59 UTC (spacecraft event time).</p>
<p>More images can be found <a href="https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/news/13120/cassinis-final-images/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">here</a>. This includes the last flybys of Titan, Enceladus, Daphns and some of the inner rings.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-04-19T06:28:59.787Z
2021-04-19T06:28:59.787Z
Nilay Ghosh
<p>Yes, on one of the final orbits it took some pictures of the rings while crossing the ring plane:</p>
<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/dbHTY.gif" rel="noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/dbHTY.gif" alt="movie from Cassini crossing ring plane" /></a></p>
<p>More details of that image are <a href="https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA21886" rel="noreferrer">here</a>, and <a href="https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA21898" rel="noreferrer">this page</a> show some still images.</p>
<p>Here’s another one:</p>
<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/jJmI3.jpg" rel="noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/jJmI3.jpg" alt="enter image description here" /></a></p>
<p>though it’s hard to interpret without reading the <a href="https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/resources/17823/inside-out-rings-over-the-limb/" rel="noreferrer">description</a>.</p>
<p>All the science done during the “Grand finale” orbits is described <a href="https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/missions/cassini/mission/grand-finale/grand-finale-orbit-guide/" rel="noreferrer">here</a>.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-04-19T04:04:09.343Z
Fun story: One of the Grand Finale measurements was the mass of the rings (dominated by the B ring). I wrote a prediction paper that it would be more massive than most thought, based on simulations of clumping and how you can effectively hide mass in the B ring. Unfortunately, the Grand Finale measurements proved my paper wrong. Okay, maybe not-so-fun story.
Stuart Robbins
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-04-19T12:08:32.987Z
@StuartRobbins I think that’s a good story.  It’s nice to see clear predictions from theory that can be directly tested with observations.  That’s not always easy to come by from either the theory or observation side.
Eric Jensen
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-04-19T02:44:19.837Z
2021-04-19T02:44:19.837Z
Eric Jensen
<p>A quote from a book, <em>Perelandra</em> by C.S. Lewis: &quot;no eye looked up from beneath on the Ring of Lurga&quot;; now Lurga is Saturn, and no human eye has been to Saturn, let alone at a lower altitude than the rings, and quite probably would not survive the radiation exposure.</p>
<p>But we have an electronic eye; that is the camera, and on board Cassini were two cameras  and these have returned photos of marvelous views of Saturn. I tried a search to find if any photos were taken looking at the rings or otherwise showing the rings while Cassini orbited so close on its final orbits, but I found only artwork.</p>
<p>Were any such photos taken?</p>

<photography><history><saturn><cassini><saturn-rings>
Did Cassini return a photo of Saturn's rings shown from closer to Saturn?
Joshua
# Did Cassini return a photo of Saturn's rings shown from closer to Saturn?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2021-04-18)

A quote from a book, *Perelandra* by C.S. Lewis: "no eye looked up from beneath on the Ring of Lurga"; now Lurga is Saturn, and no human eye has been to Saturn, let alone at a lower altitude than the rings, and quite probably would not survive the radiation exposure.

But we have an electronic eye; that is the camera, and on board Cassini were two cameras and these have returned photos of marvelous views of Saturn. I tried a search to find if any photos were taken looking at the rings or otherwise showing the rings while Cassini orbited so close on its final orbits, but I found only artwork.

Were any such photos taken?

**Tags:** photography, history, saturn, cassini, saturn-rings


---

## 2 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2021-04-19. Score: 7 | Accepted answer

Yes, on one of the final orbits it took some pictures of the rings while crossing the ring plane:

[![movie from Cassini crossing ring plane](https://i.sstatic.net/dbHTY.gif)](https://i.sstatic.net/dbHTY.gif)

More details of that image are [here](https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA21886), and [this page](https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA21898) show some still images.

Here’s another one:

[![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/jJmI3.jpg)](https://i.sstatic.net/jJmI3.jpg)

though it’s hard to interpret without reading the [description](https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/resources/17823/inside-out-rings-over-the-limb/).

All the science done during the “Grand finale” orbits is described [here](https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/missions/cassini/mission/grand-finale/grand-finale-orbit-guide/).

> **Comments:**
> **username_3**: Fun story: One of the Grand Finale measurements was the mass of the rings (dominated by the B ring). I wrote a prediction paper that it would be more massive than most thought, based on simulations of clumping and how you can effectively hide mass in the B ring. Unfortunately, the Grand Finale measurements proved my paper wrong. Okay, maybe not-so-fun story.  
> **username_2**: @username_3 I think that’s a good story.  It’s nice to see clear predictions from theory that can be directly tested with observations.  That’s not always easy to come by from either the theory or observation side.  

---

### Answer by username_1 on 2021-04-19. Score: 0

[![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/lGP8F.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/lGP8F.png)

([image source](https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/jpl/pia21895/cassinis-final-image))

This is the last image taken by the imaging cameras on Cassini spacecraft. The image was taken in visible light using the Cassini's wide-angle camera at a distance of 394,000 miles (634,000 kilometers) from Saturn. Image scale is about 11 miles (17 kilometers). It looks toward the planet's night side, lit by reflected light from the rings, and shows the location at which the spacecraft would enter the planet's atmosphere hours later (Saturn would rotate into daylight by the time Cassini made its final dive into Saturn's upper atmosphere).

This image is actually in natural color view, created using images taken with red, green and blue spectral filters. The imaging cameras obtained this view at approximately the same time that Cassini's visual and infrared mapping spectrometer made its own observations of the impact area in the thermal infrared.

The view was acquired on Sept. 14, 2017 at 19:59 UTC (spacecraft event time).

More images can be found [here](https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/news/13120/cassinis-final-images/). This includes the last flybys of Titan, Enceladus, Daphns and some of the inner rings.


---

