Rings, Rings, and More Rings

Saturn's beautiful rings -- including some faint rings never seen before -- show off in this recent view from the Cassini spacecraft. In the image, the Sun is behind Saturn, so we see the planet's nightside. Sunlight reflecting from the rings lights up the nightside, and some of the reflected glow illuminates the part of the rings in Saturn's shadow. Several broad, faint rings are visible outside the well-known brighter ones. These rings consist of tiny particles of dust, which are about the size of smoke particles. Some of the rings are fed by recently discovered moons. As meteoroids hit the moons, they blast particles into space. The particles spread out to form rings around Saturn. [Credit: NASA/JPL/SSI]