Farewell Jupiter

Explanation: Next stop: Saturn. The Cassini spacecraft , launched from Earth in 1997, has now swung past Jupiter and should arrive at Saturn in the year 2004. Pictured to the left is a parting shot from Cassini in 2001 January that would not have been possible from Earth: Jupiter showing a crescent phase . From the Earth and all points sunward of Jupiter , the gas giant will always appear more fully lit than a crescent . Recent analysis of Jupiter images taken from Cassini bolsters indications that clouds well up from below in the dark colored belts, not the light colored zones , as believed previously. After arriving at Saturn, Cassini will decelerate to orbit the ringed world and send a probe to its enigmatic moon Titan .