October 12, 2006 12:00 PM PDT
The Cassini probe has been hiding recently in the shadow of Saturn, allowing it to snap never-before-seen images of the planet's rings. Being in Saturn's shadow for 12 hours at a stretch allows the probe to turn its cameras toward the planet while the Sun lights the rings from behind.
This is a composite of 165 images taken over three hours. In this image the color contrasts have been great exaggerated. The color across and along the E-ring appears to be different between the right side and the left. Scientists have no explanation.
Photo by NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute
