Nasa's Cassini spacecraft beams back images of the tiny moon Daphnis creating ripples in the Rings of Saturn

The Cassini Spacecraft, which is a joint effort by Nasa, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency has beamed back promised photos of the tiny moons of Saturn. The tiny moon Daphnis was captured the moment its orbit intersected with the rings. Daphnis was passing through the Keeler Gap, an identifiable break in the ring structure. Daphnis creates ripples in the ring, disruptions that can be up to 8 kilometers across. [caption id=“attachment_352582” align=“aligncenter” width=“640”]  Image: Nasa.[/caption] The disruptions provide information about the nature of Daphnis. Scientists can now study the ripples and estimate the mass of the moon, as well as get a better understanding of its orbital behavior. The Cassini spacecraft was at a distance of 1.3 million kilometers from Daphnis when the image was captured. The image was captured in the visible spectrum of light, by the narrow angle camera on board the spacecraft. Cassini’s new ring grazing orbits  are turning out to be productive with the spacecraft beaming back data and information at a steady rate. The images are increasing our understanding of Saturn and the outer solar system. The Spacecraft beamed back images of the hexagonal jet streams at the North Pole of the gas giant soon after the first ring grazing orbit. The Cassini spacecraft has been operational for over twenty years, and Nasa plans to de-orbit it safely into Saturn to prevent any potential contamination of the many moons around Saturn, which could possibly harbour life.