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Saturn's Infrared Glow

Known for its bright ring system and many moons, gas giant Saturn
looks strange and unfamiliar in this false-color view from the
Cassini spacecraft. In fact, in this Visual and Infrared Mapping
Spectrometer (VIMS) mosaic the famous rings are almost invisible,
seen edge-on cutting across picture center. The most striking
contrast in the image is along the terminator or boundary between
night and day. To the right (day side) blue-green hues are visible
sunlight reflected from Saturn's cloud tops. But on the left (night
side) in the absence of sunlight, the lantern-like glow of infrared
radiation from the planet's warm interior silhouettes features at
Saturn's deeper cloud levels. The thermal infrared glow is also apparent
in the broad bands of ring shadows draped across the northern hemisphere
of Saturn.