Approaching Saturn

[Eraser]

Here's a video that shows what the Cassini spaceship "saw" as it flew by Saturn. The video doesn't contain any form of CGI, it's all composed of actual pictures taken by the Cassini spaceship.

http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap110315.html

By the way, if you're interested in a daily astronomy related picture or video like this, bookmark this link. They've got hugely impressive pictures and it's a new one every day. It's accompanied by a small blurb of text explaining what it's about and what you're seeing, so there's no in-depth scientific techno-babble. A great way to marvel in the wonders of the universe.

[LawL]

Fake.

[Tsakali]

those rings look so fake . I thought they were also composed of chunkier rocks and stuff, yet in the fly through it really looked like a completely flat disk.

[Ryoki]

I thought it was tiny ice particles or something?

[Eraser]

From wikipedia:

[The rings] are composed of 93 percent water ice with a smattering of tholin impurities and 7 percent amorphous carbon. The particles that make up the rings range in size from specks of dust to the size of a small automobile

[MrPink]

whether it's real or fake doesn't matter, it's still shit.

[Eraser]

The problem is that everyone's used to seeing imagery like this in Star Trek and whatnot, when it's all CGI. What you people don't seem to realize is that this isn't CGI. It's all real. It's individual photographs that are put together to create an animation like this. You'd see the same thing with your own eyes if it was you floating there in space instead of the spacecraft.

[feedback]

I think part of the problem is that we can't even comprehend what we're seeing.

[xer0s]

It flew through the rings? That seems like a ballsy maneuver.

Also, yeah it doesn't look anything like you'd expect. Very cool though...

[Eraser]

looked kinda crap tbh
and why did the rings not go around the planet, but cut off into black on one side?

Not the brightest light around here, are you?

and yes, that is a hint.

[xer0s]

It's called a shadow. We all have one, even Saturn...

[o'dium]

Needs more bloom... Just sayin' is all...

[Transient]

You'd see the same thing with your own eyes if it was you floating there in space instead of the spacecraft.

Not really. The camera on that spaceship took pictures with a long exposure time to absorb as much light as possible so we could see the planet/moons. What we'd see would be much darker, I would imagine. If we could see the rings, they'd also look different since the camera's exposure made them look like long streaks.

Before you reply, yes, I know what you meant by your post. Just sayin'.

[scared?]

those rings look so fake . I thought they were also composed of chunkier rocks and stuff, yet in the fly through it really looked like a completely flat disk.

lol idiot...they ain't flat...the shit u were looking at is much bigger than u r thinking...gg moron...

[seremtan]

The problem is that everyone's used to seeing imagery like this in Star Trek and whatnot, when it's all CGI. What you people don't seem to realize is that this isn't CGI. It's all real. It's individual photographs that are put together to create an animation like this. You'd see the same thing with your own eyes if it was you floating there in space instead of the spacecraft.

GEE THANKS DAD

btw what makes this awesome isn't the visuals (though the images of saturn's rings 'on end' rather than the horizontal view was a welcome change from the usual visual cliche) it's the knowledge that these are actual photos of somewhere real, and that we put the camera where it needed to be to make those photos

[Plan B]

Indeed, space exploration has come a long way.
I find shit like this captivating. Thanks for the link.

I just hope money will be kept pumped into research like this. It's important, even if it's just for the purpose of keeping a sense of perspective.

[Grudge]

I think part of the problem is that we can't even comprehend what we're seeing.

This.

Saturn is big. The simple scale of the planet and the rings is huge. It's utterly unreal. Amazing.

[Tsakali]

those rings look so fake . I thought they were also composed of chunkier rocks and stuff, yet in the fly through it really looked like a completely flat disk.

lol idiot...they ain't flat...the shit u were looking at is much bigger than u r thinking...gg moron...

well the gaps between frames in the camera must have been enormus, dumbo, I'm sure those rings are fairly thick and irregular...but i guess with long light exposures the frames are far apart

[mrd]

Cool link, thx. Space is dope.

[Eraser]

Not the brightest light around here, are you?
and yes, that is a hint.

oops yup, it's clearly shadow in other images. it did look odd though in that stop-motion.
sure it's 'real', but until we get stuff with clarity it's rather unimpressive imagery for a casual viewer.
no way is that what we'd see if we were actually there looking at it.

Well you know, that by it's own visual merit it isn't as impressive is because it isn't exactly a new thing for your brain to process.

Just like the first pictures of the Earth were hugely impressive and tantalizing to look at because no one had seen it before. These days, when someone watches a pic of the Earth it's like mmmkay, that's the Earth, now what?

The impressive thing here, as seremtan probably explained a bit clearer than me, is that we (as in mankind) actually put a vehicle out in frickin' space which flew all the way to Saturn and took these pics. That's just mind boggling.