                        Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
      fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
                    written by a professional astronomer.

                               2022 January 23

                     Saturn, Tethys, Rings, and Shadows
           Image Credit: Cassini Imaging Team, SSI, JPL, ESA, NASA

   Explanation: Seen from ice moon Tethys, rings and shadows would display
   fantastic views of the Saturnian system. Haven't dropped in on Tethys
   lately? Then this gorgeous ringscape from the Cassini spacecraft will
   have to do for now. Caught in sunlight just below and left of picture
   center in 2005, Tethys itself is about 1,000 kilometers in diameter and
   orbits not quite five saturn-radii from the center of the gas giant
   planet. At that distance (around 300,000 kilometers) it is well outside
   Saturn's main bright rings, but Tethys is still one of five major moons
   that find themselves within the boundaries of the faint and tenuous
   outer E ring. Discovered in the 1980s, two very small moons Telesto and
   Calypso are locked in stable along Tethys' orbit. Telesto precedes and
   Calypso follows Tethys as the trio circles Saturn.

                       Tomorrow's picture: witch star?
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       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
            NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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