Inside-Out Rings: Over the Limb

Cassini obtained the images in this mosaic on May 28, 2017, looking over the horizon just after its sixth pass through the gap between Saturn and its rings as part of the mission's Grand Finale. In this view, Saturn looms in the foreground on the left, adorned by ring shadows. To the right, the rings emerge from behind the planet's hazy limb, stretching outward from Cassini's perspective. The view is of the rings' unilluminated face, where sunlight filters through from the other side. The part of the planet seen here is in the southern hemisphere. . For another mosaic showing the view from between Saturn and the rings, see PIA21898. A previously released movie sequence showed Cassini's changing view, gazing out upon the rings as the spacecraft passed through the ring plane from north to south (see PIA21886). The Cassini spacecraft ended its mission on Sept. 15, 2017. A wider, uncropped version of the mosaic, which shows more of the rings, is also available at https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA21897