Thanks to the ring-grazing passes of NASA's Cassini spacecraft at the outer edges of Saturn's rings, stunning images of Daphnis - the tiny moon of Saturn - have been captured.
While clicking the snaps, Cassini was 17,000 miles away from Daphnis and it got the most up-close view, according to NASA.
Daphnis is considered the most important among the 62 confirmed moons of Saturn. It may be a tiny dot when compared to the massive Saturn, yet it makes a big impact on its surroundings. Saturn is a giant planet that is almost nine times larger than Earth and is away from the sun by 900 million miles.
Daphnis, The 'Wavemaker Moon'
The best-ever photo of Daphnis shows the 5-mile-wide tiny moon orbiting Saturn within the Keeler Gap at the outer edge of the A ring.
Daphnis is noted for the vertical and horizontal waves it creates in the edges of the gap during orbiting as a result of its gravity. The new image by Cassini gives a feel of Daphnis skimming over water causing ripples, with Daphnis exerting its tiny gravitational pull on the gas giant.
The "wavemaker moon" was first spotted in 2005 by Cassini when it was speeding through the 26-mile-wide Keeler Gap in Saturn's outer rings. In 2009 near the time of the planet's equinox, the spacecraft was able to observe the vertical structures Daphnis made, said NASA.
Dazzling Daphnis
Daphnis orbiting of the 26-mile-wide Keeler Gap has been finely captured in the image, even though the viewing angle of Cassini makes the gap look a bit congested because of foreshortening.
Like Saturn's other ring moons Atlas and Pan, Daphnis also has a narrow ridge around its equator and a smooth mantle of material on its surface, formed by accumulated fine particles from the rings.
Many broad details in the rings are also on display in this image. An example could be the grainy texture seen in wide lanes, hinting particles have been clustered together.
In contrast to the sharp edges of the Keeler Gap, the wave peak in the gap edge at left has a toned-down appearance.
What Is Grazing?
The first part of Cassini's "endgame" is on with its grazing of the outer rings of Saturn since Nov. 30. In this phase of ring-grazing maneuvers, the spacecraft circles above the poles of Saturn by swimming through the unexplored outer edges of the main rings at 20 times.
The voyage will go on until April 22, before Cassini starts the "exit game" for a plunge into Saturn's atmosphere in September to end its life.
"We're calling this phase of the mission Cassini's Ring-Grazing Orbits because we'll be skimming past the outer edge of the rings," said Linda Spilker, project scientist with NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena.
Saturn has four main ring systems named A, B, C, and D and are made of mostly water ice. There are also three fainter rings lying farther away from the planet.
Cassini's End
Despite capturing unseen material from Saturn, Cassini's days are numbered. By April 2017, the final stage of the spacecraft mission will begin. Cassini's fuel supplies are turning meager and soon it will take its last tight orbit of Saturn before throwing itself into the planet's atmosphere.
However, the spacecraft is expected to pass more vital data to the Jet Propulsion Lab managing the Cassini mission as it winds down.
