‘Saturn’s Rings Close-up’ 2005 Science Photo Library Print by Science Photo Library Archive

Extreme close-up Cassini spacecraft image of Saturn and its rings. Swirling clouds can be seen in Saturn’s atmosphere. The rings consist of particles of nearly pure water ice. The dark region in the rings is the Cassini division, which is 4,800 kilometres wide. The Cassini-Huygens spacecraft was launched in 1997 to investigate Saturn, its rings and its moons. This image was taken at a distance of 1 million kilometres from Saturn on 25 June 2005. (Photo by Science Photo Library)