CICLOPS: Cassini Imaging Central Laboratory for OPerationS
Holiday Treats ... from Us to You

Just in time for the year-end festivities, the Cassini Imaging Team presents to the world a stocking full of colorful treats from the Saturnian frontier, and wishes everyone around the globe the very best holiday season. (Image advisory can be found here.)

Dec 22, 2011: Titan and Dione - Saturn's third-largest moon, Dione, can be seen through the haze of the planet's largest moon, Titan, in this view of the two posing before the planet and its rings from NASA's Cassini spacecraft.
Dec 22, 2011: Haze Before Ice - Saturn's moon Tethys, with its stark white icy surface, peeps out from behind the larger, hazy, colorful Titan in this view of the two moons obtained by NASA's Cassini spacecraft.
Dec 22, 2011: Orange and Blue Hazes - These views from NASA's Cassini spacecraft look toward the south polar region of Saturn's largest moon, Titan, and show a depression within the moon's orange and blue haze layers near the south pole.
Dec 22, 2011: Titan Upfront - The colorful globe of Saturn's largest moon, Titan, passes in front of the planet and its rings in this true color snapshot from NASA's Cassini spacecraft.
Dec 22, 2011: True Colors, Deceptive Sizes - Saturn's largest moon, Titan, appears deceptively small paired here with Dione, Saturn's third-largest moon, in this view from NASA's Cassini spacecraft.
Alliance Member Comments
Alikshi (Jan 5, 2012 at 11:54 AM):
Stunningly beautiful! Thank you.
Breitstar (Jan 4, 2012 at 8:06 PM):
Can you see through the haze of Titan at night
and view the sights passing by?
Maybe our kids can try this out.
I'd sure like to try!

Breathtaking as always!
NeKto (Dec 30, 2011 at 1:14 PM):
Hello Team!
thanks for another year of breathtaking images and intelectual stimulation. Keep up the great work! as is said in Russian; Vsevo Khorosheva! Everything Good! (it is a wish. not an observation.)
NeKto aka Aleksei
stowaway (Dec 29, 2011 at 1:09 AM):
Thank you - Merry Christmas
saarmason (Dec 26, 2011 at 8:21 AM):
Wow! What beauty and wonder there is in the Saturnian System ! Thank you for this wonderous Christmas treat. It's like we are in space gazing through a porthole in our ship taking in these perfect visual records of one of our system's most beautiful planets.
Much appreciated!
bruno.thiery (Dec 26, 2011 at 2:16 AM):
We are very fortunate indeed.
The Voyager spacecrafts awoke our imagination then Cassini filled it with wonders beyond it!
Regarding the Ancients, we should give them the credit that they gave the name of their gods to these specks of light they saw wandering through the night skies. That is not nothing.
Thanks and Merry Christmas and Happy 2012 to the CICLOPS team and supporters!
carolyn (CICLOPS) (Dec 24, 2011 at 2:19 PM):
Robert: Yes, that is a wonder-filled realization, isn't it? That humankind has its machines in orbit around all of those planets that to the ancients were nothing more than moving lights. We've come far, haven't we?
Robert (Dec 24, 2011 at 4:56 AM):
This is a beautiful series of images showing many of the perspectives and details that make the Cassini Mission so fascinating to follow. Especially in color!! Wow!! The other day, in the pre-dawn sky, I saw the bright lights of Mercury, Saturn and Mars forming a line across the orbital plane. And it warmed my heart to know that our spacecraft are out there among them, and through their instruments scientists are right now exploring the mysteries and wonders of our solar system neighbourhood, and giving us in return such delights for the eyes and insights for the mind.
NeKto (Dec 23, 2011 at 3:12 PM):
What a wonderful way to celebrate Saturnalia! (a ten day ancient Roman holiday starting on the winter solstice, or so i'm told)
Those ancient Romans didn't have a clue about the real majesty of the planet and system they gave the name to.
umpireplb (Dec 23, 2011 at 7:07 AM):
Look closely between Titan and Tethys... I could swear I see a sleigh being pulled by a crew of flying reindeer. Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good sight!
tonyfisher (Dec 22, 2011 at 11:50 PM):
A real Xmas treat - it never ceases to amaze how such wonderful pictures taken so far away can end up on my laptop. From Northern Ireland 'seasons best to everyone'
ColinH (Dec 22, 2011 at 5:04 PM):
Excellent imagery again ! Congratulations and thank you for this Happy Solstice present. Season's Greetings to the CICOPS team from your friends at the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada.
Red_dragon (Dec 22, 2011 at 4:37 PM):
Awesome stuff as usual. Thanks, CICLOPS, and have a merry Christmas and a happy 2012 as well as the other members of Sector 6.