Softly colored Saturn embraces the shadows of its majestic rings in this image captured by NASA's Cassini spacecraft in 2005. Cassini's wide-angle camera captured the gas giant from a distance of about 621,000 miles (999,000 kilometers) as the spacecraft hovered a few degrees above the ring plane.

This color image approximates the landscape as it appears to the human eye. The image has been brightened to show more detail in the rings and their shadows.

Saturn's shift from gold to blue as it heads towards the north pole is a striking visual effect that scientists do not fully understand. It may be related to seasonal patterns associated with cold weather as Saturn's northern hemisphere enters the winter season.

Image description:

Saturn is depicted on the left side of the image, changing from blue to gold near the center. The rings are shown in the lower half of the image and their shadows in the upper half of the image.

 

Credit: NASA/JPL/Institute for Space Science