On 6 December, the Cassini spacecraft sent back the first photos聽since starting its closest orbits yet to Saturn鈥檚 rings.
This penultimate phase of Cassini鈥檚 mission, called the Ring-Grazing Orbits, started on 30 November and will send Cassini on 20 week-long trips soaring above Saturn鈥檚 northern hemisphere before gliding back down just outside the planet鈥檚 main rings.
These new images were taken on 2 and 3 December, about two days before the first ring-grazing approach to the planet, as Cassini flew over the northern hemisphere鈥檚 strange hexagonal jet stream. The hexagon is caused by a powerful wind current and churns constantly, rotating once聽every 10 and a half hours around the colossal hurricane at its centre.
Advertisement
Over the next few months, Cassini will send back the closest-ever images of Saturn鈥檚 rings and small moons, plus more photos of the planet itself. The聽final phase, called the Grand Finale, will begin on 22 April. At its聽end, in September 2017, Cassini will hurtle into Saturn鈥檚 haze and be destroyed by the very world it studied.
