NASA. LARGE FORMAT. Anyone who has ever observed Saturn thro - Lot 281

NASA. LARGE FORMAT. Anyone who has ever observed Saturn through a small telescope is immediately captivated by its elegant rings, which make this distant planet one of the most exotic and opulent worlds in the solar system. The latest image of Saturn taken by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope captures exquisite details of the ring system - which resembles a vinyl record with grooves representing the detailed structure of the rings - and atmospheric details that only space probes visiting this distant world could once capture. One of these intriguing features is the persistent hexagonal structure that surrounds the planet's north pole. This is a mysterious hexagonal pattern caused by a high-speed jet stream. NASA's Voyager 1 probe discovered this "hexagon" during its flyby in 1981. The hexagon is so large that four Earths could fit inside it. (There is no similar structure at Saturn's south pole. Saturn's appearance changes with the seasons, due to the 27-degree tilt of its equator in relation to the plane of its orbit around the Sun. Similarly, the Earth has seasons, as our planet is tilted by around 23.5 degrees, but the seasons on Saturn last more than seven years. This new image of Saturn was taken in summer, in the planet's northern hemisphere. The amber colors of the planet in this image come from smog-like summer mists, produced by photochemical reactions induced by solar ultraviolet radiation. Beneath this haze are clouds of ammonia ice crystals, as well as deeper, invisible clouds of ammonium hydrosulfide and water. Saturn's banded structure is due to alternating winds that produce clouds at different altitudes at each latitude. Saturn's iconic ring system is now tilted towards Earth, offering observers a magnificent glimpse of its brilliant, icy structure. The high resolution of Hubble's Wide Field Camera 3 allows us to observe many of the rings, as well as the fainter inner rings. Vintage chromogenic print. Numbering on front. Label on back. 40.6 x 40.6 cm with margins.