Astronomy Picture of the Day ·

Lantern Saturn

The Astronomy Picture of the Day for May 31, 2012 is “Lantern Saturn,” an image. It is credited to Credit: VIMS Team , U. Arizona , ESA , NASA. The original explanation runs about 129 words.

Lantern Saturn
Credit: VIMS Team , U. Arizona , ESA , NASA Shown from science.nasa.gov. Not hosted by OpenOrbit.

From the explanation

“Known for its bright ring system and many moons , gas giant Saturn looks strange and unfamiliar in this false-color view from the Cassini spacecraft. In fact, in this Visual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer ( VIMS ) mosaic the famous rings are almost invisible, seen edge-on cutting across picture center.”

— APOD editors, May 31, 2012

Read the full explanation on science.nasa.gov

At a glance

Date
May 31, 2012
Type
Image
Credit
Credit: VIMS Team , U. Arizona , ESA , NASA
Copyright
No copyright notice on the entry. Check the credited institution’s own usage rules before reusing it.
Explanation length
About 129 words

All of May 2012 → · 2012 by month → · Full archive since 1995 →

Topics in this entry

Saturn

Topics are matched from words in the title and explanation.

On this day: May 31 in other years

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Source

Copy taken Oct 28, 2026, 2:39 AM EDT. The image and explanation belong to their creators. OpenOrbit is not affiliated with or endorsed by NASA.