Cassini spacecraft image of a density wave in Saturn's B ring, known as the Janus 2:1 spiral density wave. These rings orbit Saturn twice for every on

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Cassini spacecraft image of a density wave in Saturn's B ring, known as the Janus 2:1 spiral density wave. These rings orbit Saturn twice for every one orbit of the moon Janus. This creates an orbital resonance that causes the wave to propagate outward and away from Saturn (towards upper left). The rings, which consist of particles of nearly pure water ice, have become contaminated with meteoritic dust over time. Image obtained by the spacecraft's narrow-angle camera on the 4th June 2017, at a distance of approximately 76,000 kilometres from the area pictured.

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Size: 2976px × 2976px
Photo credit: © NASA/JPL-CALTECH/SPACE SCIENCE INSTITUTE/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

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