Unprecedented Details showing Saturn's Rings

We are now on NASA's Cassini "Ring-Grazing" orbits phase, the spacecraft is observing Saturn's dazzling rings of icy debris in a way that it has never been possible before. There are some of the closest-ever images of the outer parts of the main rings, giving scientists an eagerly awaited opportunity to observe features with names like "straw" and "propellers." These so called straw and propellers are caused by clumping ring particles and small, embedded moonlets, respectively.

Early on the mission Cassini saw these features too, however, the current special orbits can provide opportunities to see them in greater detail. The new images resolve details as small as 550 meters, which is on the scale of Earth's tallest buildings for comparison.

At the moment the spacecraft is about halfway through its penultimate mission phase, consisting in 20 orbits that dive past the outer edge of the main ring system. The ring-grazing orbits began last November, and will continue until late April, when Cassini begins its grand finale.

Source: NASA, JPL