Astronomy Picture of the Day ·

Crossing Saturn's Ring Plane

The Astronomy Picture of the Day for November 16, 2025 is “Crossing Saturn's Ring Plane,” an image. It is credited to Image Credit: NASA , ESA , JPL , ISS , Cassini Imaging Team ; Processing: Fernando Garcia Navarro. The original explanation runs about 178 words.

The planet Saturn is shown as an orange orb with bands. A blue line with bumps runs across the middle -- which is the rings seen sideways. The bumps are small moons. Please see the explanation for more detailed information.
Credit: Image Credit: NASA , ESA , JPL , ISS , Cassini Imaging Team ; Processing: Fernando Garcia Navarro Shown from science.nasa.gov. Not hosted by OpenOrbit.

From the explanation

“If this is Saturn, where are the rings? When Saturn’s “appendages” disappeared in 1612, Galileo did not understand why.”

— APOD editors, November 16, 2025

Read the full explanation on science.nasa.gov

At a glance

Date
November 16, 2025
Type
Image
Credit
Credit: Image Credit: NASA , ESA , JPL , ISS , Cassini Imaging Team ; Processing: Fernando Garcia Navarro
Copyright
No copyright notice on the entry. Check the credited institution’s own usage rules before reusing it.
Explanation length
About 178 words

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Topics in this entry

Saturn

Topics are matched from words in the title and explanation.

On this day: November 16 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.