Cassini Captures New Image of Saturn’s Faintest Rings (PHOTO)

Oct 21, 2013 08:18 PM EDT | Matt Mercuro

The Cassini spacecraft was able to take an infrared image of Saturn earlier this month, which has provided new detailed views of "Saturn's faintest rings," according to NASA.

The image was obtained on Oct. 10, 2013.

"Looking at the Saturn system when it is back-lit by the sun gives scientists a kind of inside-out view of Saturn that we don't normally see," said Matt Hedman, a participating Cassini scientist at the University of Idaho, in a statement.

The new image outlines the far side of Saturn and its rings, the agency's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., confirmed.

Saturn's faint outer F, E and G rings are difficult to see when light is shining directly on them because they are practically transparent and made up of small particles that don't reflect light well.

"The parts of Saturn's rings that are bright when you look at them from backyard telescopes on Earth are dark, and other parts that are typically dark glow brightly in this view," said Hedman.

Since Earth is always "Sun-ward" of Saturn, the image could only be taken from a probe like Cassini, according to NASA.

Cassini, which was launched back in 1997, has been exploring the Saturn system for over 9 years with a number of different tools like visible-light cameras and ultraviolet instruments.

"Earth looks different from season to season and Saturn does, too," JPL Cassini project scientist Linda Spilker said, according to NASA. "We can't wait to see how those seasonal changes affect the dance of icy particles as we continue to observe Saturn's rings with all of Cassini's different 'eyes.'"

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