‘Saturn’s Rings From Above’ 2007 Science Photo Library Print by Science Photo Library Archive

This view is from an elevation of 60 degrees. The rings surrounding Saturn are composed mainly of ice, a small percentage of carbon and some organic impurities (tholins). The planet has been removed from this image, only its shadow is visible (at lower right). This image is a mosaic of 27 sets of images taken with red, green and blue spectral filters. It was obtained with the wide-angle camera onboard the Cassini spacecraft on January 21st 2007, at a distance of approximately 1.6 million kilometres from Saturn. (Photo by Science Photo Library)