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Unmanned Spaceflight.com _ Cassini's ongoing mission and raw images _ Pretty Pan!

Posted by: Ian R Oct 30 2006, 07:21 AM

Nice shot of Pan in the Encke Division, with its night side illuminated by Saturn-shine:

http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/multimedia/images/raw/casJPGFullS25/N00068548.jpg

Ian.

Posted by: Ian R Oct 31 2006, 02:49 AM

Look at the effect Pan is having on the two main ringlets in the Encke division:

Posted by: nprev Oct 31 2006, 03:48 AM

Neat...almost looks like accretion & erosion on Pan are happening simultaneously!

...come to that, why is Pan there at all anymore? If I read that image correctly, it should at least be sand-blasted into some sort of "aerodynamic" shape by now, if not completely obliterated...odd. On the other hand, the ring particles obviously are traveling at the same velocity, so maybe the long-term effects aren't that severe; bet that it's at least knee-deep in dust by now, though.

Posted by: Ian R Nov 24 2006, 06:27 PM

The official image release:

http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA08317