"While the surface of Enceladus is reported to be as brilliant as snow in full sun, it would probably appear leaden about an hour before sunrise with a crescent Saturn as the only source of illumination. Subtending an angle of 29° in Enceladus' sky (the same width as 58 Earth moons lined up side-by-side in Earth's sky) Saturn would be a stunning panorama.

This image also illustrates a phenomenon only recently discovered by NASA's Cassini probe: sunlight reflecting off of Saturn's rings casts a faint glow onto the cloud tops of Saturn's night side. The illumination is about the same as three of Earth's full moon combined."


Walter Myers   © 2006
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