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This right here is a *masterpiece* of processing by none other than Jason Major: Rhea and Epithemeus in front of Saturn 😍
#Repost @jpmajor (@get_repost)
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Rhea (l) and Epimetheus (r) in front of Saturn and its rings made from #Cassini images captu… instagram.com/p/Bkqd4ghADNh/
#Repost @jpmajor (@get_repost)
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Rhea (l) and Epimetheus (r) in front of Saturn and its rings made from #Cassini images captu… instagram.com/p/Bkqd4ghADNh/
Although you're probably already like "duh it's gorgeous, yeah it's a masterpiece!", it's more than that: those are moons, and moons are in constant motion. Color images are produced by combining images taken in the red, green, and blue filters.
Each image is taken at slightly different times, so the moons will be in different positions in each shot. If you just superimpose them, you'll get something that doesn't have sharp edges like you see here.
This image shows the limb of Saturn's moon Iapetus, captured by #Cassini on Sept. 10, 2007. A ridge of 10km-high (6.2 mile) mountains encircles the equator, possibly the remains of a former satellite that broke apart as its orbit degraded. Iapetus is 1,470 km (913 miles) wide.
Here's a wide-angle view of Iapetus from the same observation set on 9/10/07. Color comp made from images acquired in IR, G, and UV.
Iapetus is an icy moon stained dark. This "telephoto" view of the eastern limb region from the previous image shows where dark material has coated its leading forward-facing side. This dark material originates from even more distant moon Phoebe, which is likely a captured comet.
