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HST Image of Saturn Moon Transits

HST Image of Saturn Moon Transits
This sequence of images captures the parade of several of Saturn's moons transiting the face of the gas giant planet. This is a rare event because the rings are tilted edge on to Earth every 15 years. The top frame captures the giant moon Titan and its shadow near Saturn's northern polar hood. Tiny Mimas and its shadow have just entered the left limb of Saturn, slightly above the rings. To the far left off the disk, Dione, the brightest of the icy moons in this view – and Enceladus, fainter and farther to the left – can easily be seen just above the rings. In the center frame, Dione and Enceladus can be seen near the western limb of Saturn, while Titan's shadow is off the limb, and Mimas is on the right most limb, its shadow also now off the limb. In the bottom frame, Dione and its shadow are centered above Enceladus and its shadow. Titan is now off the right limb. This picture sequence was taken with Hubble's Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 on February 24, 2009, when Saturn was at a distance of roughly 775 million miles (1.25 billion kilometers) from Earth. Hubble can see details as small as 190 miles (300 km) across on Saturn.

About the Object

  • Distance
    DistanceThe physical distance from Earth to the astronomical object. Distances within our solar system are usually measured in Astronomical Units (AU). Distances between stars are usually measured in light-years. Interstellar distances can also be measured in parsecs.
    The semi-major axis of Saturn's orbit about the sun is 9.5 astronomical units (A.U.) or roughly 1.4 billion km.
  • Dimensions
    DimensionsThe physical size of the object or the apparent angle it subtends on the sky.
    The planet (without rings) has a diameter of roughly 75,000 miles (120,000 km) at the equator.

About the Data

  • Data Description
    Data DescriptionProposal: A description of the observations, their scientific justification, and the links to the data available in the science archive.
    Science Team: The astronomers who planned the observations and analyzed the data. "PI" refers to the Principal Investigator.
    The Hubble images and videos were created from HST data from proposal 11956: K. Noll, Z. Levay, M. Mutchler, L. Frattare, C. Christian, F. Hamilton, and H. Bond (The Hubble Heritage Team/STScI/AURA). B. Januszewski (STScI), M.H. Wong (UC Berkeley/STScI), and C. Go (Phillipines) also helped with image conception, proposal preparation/processing and data analysis.
  • Instrument
    InstrumentThe science instrument used to produce the data.
    HST>WFPC2
  • Exposure Dates
    Exposure DatesThe date(s) that the telescope made its observations and the total exposure time.
    February 24, 2009
  • Filters
    FiltersThe camera filters that were used in the science observations.
    F439W (B), F555W (V), and F675W (R)
  • Object Name
    Object NameA name or catalog number that astronomers use to identify an astronomical object.
    Saturn
  • Object Description
    Object DescriptionThe type of astronomical object.
    Planet with Satellites
  • Release Date
    March 17, 2009
  • Science Release
    Quadruple Saturn Moon Transit Snapped by Hubble
    Read the release
  • Credit
    NASA, ESA, and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA); Acknowledgment: M.H. Wong (STScI/UC Berkeley) and C. Go (Philippines)

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HST Image of Saturn Moon Transits
Color Info
Color InfoA brief description of the methods used to convert telescope data into the color image being presented.

The image is a composite of separate exposures made by the WFPC2 instrument on the Hubble Space Telescope. Three filters were used to sample broad wavelength ranges. The color results from assigning different hues (colors) to each monochromatic image. In this case, the assigned colors are: Blue: F439W (B) Green: F555W (V) Red: F675W (R)

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Details

Last Updated
Mar 28, 2025
Contact
Media

Claire Andreoli
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
Greenbelt, Maryland
claire.andreoli@nasa.gov

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