Picture of the day - March 7, 2007

Day And Night On Saturn

Photo courtesy of NASA. We earthlings rarely get to see the "day" side and "night" side of another planet at the same time, but today's picture allows us to see the planet Saturn from above - giving us a simultaneous view of both sides of the ringed gas giant! Currently in orbit around Saturn, the amazing Cassini spacecraft is busy sending thousands of stunning high resolution images of the planet and its moons back to earth for us to study and enjoy. Cassini captured the mosaic image featured above back in January. Our wonderful robotic explorers are allowing us humans to "visit" and learn about distant planets, moons, asteroids, comets and other heavenly bodies years (perhaps decades) before we'll be in a position to visit them in person. I find it absolutely amazing that we can sit in our home or office and look at a photo that shows Saturn's day and night sides at the same time. And the most amazing thing about it all is in the exciting realm of space exploration, we're really just getting started!   "Picture of the Day" archives             Submit a photo of your own!            Why I publish the "Picture of the Day"