[X] My Assistant

[dilo]

Look at these two WideField images taken on Aug,02:
9879
9878
It seems that a bright starlike object traversed the space between Saturn and rings! Due to trajectory, satellite hypothesis is very unlikely and now I'm almost sure it's a planet...
Looking carefully to illumination, the visible part of Saturn is the darkside and rings are illuminated from below/behind. In fact, on Aug,02 Saturn eclipsed the Sun (as seen from Cassini) as showed by these Solar System simulator grabs:


First sequence show the Mars transit toward East limb, while second sequence refers to the Venus exit from opposite side.
Initially I believed object is so bright that must be Venus or even Earth
However, after some considerations, most likehood conclusion is that Cassini pictured , while the remaining inner solar system components were hidden from Saturn...
Do someone can inform MER/MGS guys about the new imagery?

[elakdawalla]

Look at these two WideField images taken on Aug,02:
9879
9878
It seems that a bright starlike object traversed the space between Saturn and rings! Due to trajectory, satellite hypothesis is very unlikely and now I'm almost sure it's a planet...

I asked Cassini Mission Planner David Seal if this was indeed a planet. He thought it could be, but he checked into it and found it wasn't. "Unfortunately, it's not a planet. The two images in question were taken at about 11:06 and 11:14 (spacecraft UTC) on August 2nd. For both of those times, all of the inner planets and Sun are behind Saturn. Mars was the last to disappear behind the limb (the left-hand limb, as seen from Cassini, which is the one imaged in the pictures) at 10:11, and Venus would have been the first to re-emerge on the right-hand side at 11:40. I did see stars at the correct position for the various bright spots; they'd be in Capricorn. The one near the top edge of the rings is Eta Capricornus."

Too bad! Would have been cool if it was another planet.

Emily

[dilo]

Thank you very much, Emily! (and welcome to the forum...)
This is a simulated (rough) view:
It is worth to note that Eta Capricornus is a 4.8 magnitude star, so slightly less luminous than Mars (4.3); moreover, the other dimmer object visible in the #9879 image (top/left of Eta Cap) is probably a 6th magnitude star (SAO190014) and even dimmer stars are barely visible in both long exposure...
Now, imagine how should appear Venus or Earth in similar images (magnitude close to 1) .
I hope someday Cassini Mission Planner will make some "family portrait"...