Cassini views the little moon Daphnis up close

In early January, the Cassini spacecraft took this marvelous shot of the small moon Daphnis as it travels along in a gap in Saturn’s rings: Cassini: Mission to Saturn: Daphnis Up Close 

The wavemaker moon, Daphnis, is featured in this view, taken as NASA’s Cassini spacecraft made one of its ring-grazing passes over the outer edges of Saturn’s rings on Jan. 16, 2017. This is the closest view of the small moon obtained yet. Daphnis (5 miles or 8 kilometers across) orbits within the 42-kilometer (26-mile) wide Keeler Gap. Cassini’s viewing angle causes the gap to appear narrower than it actually is, due to foreshortening. The little moon’s gravity raises waves in the edges of the gap in both the horizontal and vertical directions. Cassini was able to observe the vertical structures in 2009, around the time of Saturn’s equinox. [Full caption and larger images]
Check out the latest Cassini shots from the Saturnian system in the Mission to Saturn Images gallery and the Raw Images gallery

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