After the Huygens probe successfully parachuted through the thick atmosphere of Saturn's largest moon, Titan, the Cassini spacecraft is continuing to study Saturn, its rings, Titan, and many of the giant planet's other moons.

Cassini entered orbit around Saturn on June 30, 2004, and is scheduled to study the Saturn system for four years.

The Huygens probe landed on Titan on January 14, 2005. It transmitted about four hours of data about Titan's atmosphere and surface, including about 350 pictures.

We are highlighting some of the mission's most interesting images in this gallery, which is updated frequently.

Flying Saucers! (July 29, 2010)
			Two moons of Saturn are shaped a bit like flying saucers, as seen in these images from the orbiting Cassini spacecraft. The top images show Atlas from the side (left) and almost above, while the bottom images show Pan (at right, bisected by Saturn's rings). These small moons acquired their saucer shapes by pulling in bits of ring material, which build up around their waists. [NASA/JPL/SSI] For more information, see our July 29 program.

Big (Foot) Lake (July 27, 2010)
			Ontario Lacus, the largest lake in the southern hemisphere of Saturn's moon Titan, looks like a footprint in this image from the Cassini spacecraft. The image was compiled from observations made with radar, which peers through the haze that surrounds Titan. It shows rivers and streams flowing into the lake, which is about as large as Lake Ontario here on Earth. Titan is so cold, however, that the lake is filled not with water, but with liquid methane. [NASA/JPL]

Just Passing By (June 30, 2010)
			Dione, one of the moons of Saturn, passes in front of the larger moon Titan in this image from the Cassini spacecraft, which has been orbiting Saturn since 2004. Dione has no atmosphere, and its surface is covered with ice. Titan is enwrapped in a cold, organic-rich atmosphere that is thicker than Earth's.

Close Moon (June 7, 2010)
			The Cassini spacecraft snapped this image of Saturn's moon Rhea from a distance of just 65,000 miles (105,000 km) on June 4. Rhea's icy surface has been battered by countless impacts, creating craters within craters. Cassini continues to explore Saturn and its moons and rings more than six years after it arrived at Saturn. [NASA/JPL/SSI]

Golden Beacon (March 21, 2010)
			The planet Saturn, shown here in an image from the Cassini spacecraft, is putting on its best showing of the year. It is at opposition, which means it lines up opposite the Sun in our sky. It rises around sunset and remains in the sky all night. Saturn is brightest for the year, too. It looks like a bright golden star. [NASA/JPL/SSI] For more information, see our March 21 program.

Peek-A-Boo Moon (March 11, 2010)
			Helene, a small moon of Saturn, peeks into view at the corner of this recent image from the Cassini spacecraft, with Saturn itself in the background. Helene is a small chunk of rock and ice. It has been battered by smaller moons, making it look like a knobby root vegetable. This is one of the sharpest images of Helene to date, and reveals details as small as a few hundred yards in diameter. Cassini flew past the moon on March 3. [NASA/JPL/SSI]

'Leaking' Moon (March 1, 2010)
			More than 30 "jets" of liquid water spray into space from the region around the south pole of Enceladus, a moon of Saturn, in this recent image from the Cassini spacecraft. Cassini snapped the picture in late 2009, from a distance of approximately 9,000 miles (14,000 km). The craft had detected several jets during earlier encounters with Enceladus, but this pass revealed more than 20 new ones. The jets are expelled from warm spots in cracks on the moon's surface. Scientists are still debating the process that warms the ice and expels the water into space. [NASA/JPL/SSI]

Death Star Moon (February 17, 2010)
			The giant impact crater at lower right makes Mimas, a moon of Saturn, resemble the "death stars" of Star Wars fame. The Cassini spacecraft snapped this image on February 14, from a distance of about 21,500 miles, during its closest approach yet to the icy moon. The crater, known as Herschel, is about 80 miles in diameter, with a central peak about four miles high. The impact that created Herschel was so powerful that it almost shattered the small moon. The small horizontal lines at right are defects in transmission of the image, which has not yet been processed by mission scientists. [NASA/JPL/SSI]

Saturn's Hexagon (January 5, 2010)
			Clouds form a hexagon pattern around Saturn's north pole in this mosaic of images from the Cassini spacecraft. Planetary scientists are not certain what creates the hexagon, which was first seen in the 1980s. The image has been contrast-enhanced to bring out subtle details in Saturn's clouds. [NASA/JPL/SSI] For more information, see our January 5 program.

Ringing Up New Discoveries (December 8, 2009)
			A wide swath of Saturn's rings and a sliver of the planet's southern hemisphere form a beautiful tableau in this recent image from the Cassini spacecraft, which has been orbiting Saturn for more than five years. The craft recently discovered that the rings contain vast walls, sculpted by the gravity of some of its small moons, that are a couple of miles high. [NASA/JPL/SSI] For more information, see our December 8 program.

Battered Moon (November 12, 2009)
			Mimas, one of the largest moons of Saturn, shows the scars of billions of years of impacts by rocky debris in this close-up view from the Cassini spacecraft, with Saturn's rings in the background. The largest impact crater, which is on the other side of the moon, inspired researchers to nickname Mimas the "Death Star Moon," because it resembles the giant space stations of Star Wars fame. The surface of Mimas is one of the most thoroughly battered in all the solar system, which tells geologists that nothing has happened on the moon itself, such as melting or volcanic eruptions, to erase the craters. [NASA/JPL/SSL] For more information, see our November 12 program.

Changing Map (August 6, 2009)
			This map of Jupiter shows belts and zones of different colors, giant storm systems, and other features in the planet's turbulent atmosphere. The problem with mapping Jupiter, though, is that it has no solid surface, so its features change over scales of days, months, and years. The most prominent feature in this map, compiled from images by the Cassini spacecraft in 2000, is the Great Red Spot, an oval-shaped storm at left center. It is wide enough to swallow Earth. [NASA/JPL/SSI] For more information, see our August 6 program.

Wide Slice (June 27, 2009)
			A wide slice of Saturn's rings circles the giant planet in this image from the Cassini spacecraft. Only Cassini can see the rings from this angle right now because the rings are turned almost edge-on as seen from Earth. Saturn itself is in the upper left corner of the image. [NASA/JPL/SSI] For more information, see our June 27 program.

Stellar Hide-and-Seek (June 5, 2009)
			Antares, the brightest star of Scorpius, peeks through a gap in the rings of Saturn in this view from the Cassini spacecraft. Scientists watch stars through the rings to help map the structure of the rings. From here on Earth, Antares appears near the almost-full Moon on the nights of June 5 and 5. It shines bright orange, so it is hard to miss even through the Moon's glare. [NASA/JPL/SSI] For more information, see our June 5 program.

Stormy Skies (January 14, 2009)
			Oval-shaped storms as big as countries drift with the winds in the northern hemisphere of Saturn in this recent image from the Cassini spacecraft. To the eye alone, Saturn looks fairly calm. But Cassini's cameras can peer beneath the haze at the top of its atmosphere to see storms and other features. Saturn's high-speed rotation creates bands of clouds that stretch all the way around the planet. Strong winds separate the bands. [NASA/JPL/SSI] For more information, see our January 14 program.

Unruly Flock (December 17, 2008)
			Saturn's rings curve gracefully around the giant planet in this view from the Cassini spacecraft, which is orbiting Saturn. The rings span almost a quarter-million miles, yet are only a few yards thick. The thousands of individual rings are held in check by the gravity of small moons, known as shepherds, that orbit between the rings. [NASA/JPL/SSI] For more information, see our December 17 program.

Paying a Call (December 3, 2008)
			Titan, the largest moon of Saturn, passes in front of the giant planet in this image from the Cassini spacecraft. Saturn's rings, seen edge-on by the orbiter, form a dark line just above Titan. Cassini is scheduled to pass about 600 miles (950 km) from Titan on December 4. Titan has a thick atmosphere that is topped by an orange smog-like haze of organic chemicals. Cassini's instruments can look through the haze to see the moon's surface, which includes lakes of liquid methane and giant dunes of grains of frozen methane. [NASA/JPL/SSI]

Saturnian Shower (October 24, 2008)
			Geysers of water spray into space from the south pole of Enceladus, one of the moons of Saturn, in this recent view from the Cassini spacecraft. Cassini flew through the plume in early October. The water squirts from cracks in Enceladus' icy surface. It freezes as it flies into space. Some of the ice particles renew one of Saturn's outer rings. [NASA/JPL/SSI] For more information, see our October 24 program.

Into the Shadow (September 1, 2008)
			Rhea, one of the icy moons of Saturn, passes into the giant planet's shadow in a sequence of images snapped August 19 by the Cassini spacecraft. The first image shows Rhea before the eclipse begins, with the line between day and night at top. Large impact craters and cracks scar the surface, which is made primarily of frozen water. The shadow then slowly covers all but Rhea's north polar region. The last two images used longer exposure times to bring out more details in the eclipsed region. Cassini was about 280,000 miles (450,000 km) from Rhea. [NASA/JPL/SSI] For more information, see the full slideshow.

Wrinkled Skin (August 13, 2008)
			Wide, deep cracks radiate along the icy surface of Enceladus, one of the moons of Saturn, in this August 11 image from the Cassini spacecraft. Liquid water squirts into space through the cracks, where temperatures are much warmer than the surrounding ice. Cassini snapped this image from a distance of about 3,000 miles (4,800 km). [NASA/JPL/SSI]

A New Beginning (July 1, 2008)
			Bands and swirls of clouds highlight Saturn's northern hemisphere in this image from the Cassini spacecraft. Cassini, which arrived at Saturn in 2004, concluded its primary mission on June 30, and is embarking on a two-year extended mission. The extra time will allow it to map more of the moon Titan, which has a thick atmosphere rich in organic compounds, and fly through plumes of water jetting from the south pole of the moon Enceladus. The dark bands at the bottom of this image are the shadows of Saturn's rings, while the small black dot near the top of the planet is the shadow of the moon Mimas. [NASA/JPL/SSI]

Titanic Energy (May 11, 2008)
			A lake of liquid methane glistens beneath the orange sky of Titan in this artist's concept. The big moon of Saturn appears to have many large lakes of liquid hydrocarbons, as well as giant dunes made of grains of hydrocarbon ice. The energy content of these compounds far exceeds the known hydrocarbon energy reserves on Earth, according to researchers who have studied readings from the Saturn-orbiting Cassini spacecraft. [Steve Hobbs] For more information, see our May 11 program.

Drizzly Skies (April 17, 2008)
			A swoosh of clouds slashes across the northern hemisphere of Saturn's moon Titan in this 2008 image from the Cassini spacecraft. The clouds are at the top center of the picture. Researchers say that a steady drizzle of liquid hydrocarbons may soak much of Titan. Flowing liquids appear to carve rivers on Titan, filling large lakes. [NASA/JPL/SSI] For more information, see our April 17 program.

Ribbons and Bows (April 15, 2008)
			A colorful "rainbow" shimmers across the ribbon-like rings of Saturn in this image from the Cassini spacecraft. Although this rainbow is an artifact of the way the picture was acquired, a trip to Saturn's rings might offer views of real rainbows, plus many other beautiful and colorful sights. [NASA/JPL/SSI] For more information, see our April 15 program.

Flip Side (March 17, 2008)
			Craters, cracks, and wrinkles highlight this March 12 view of the north polar region of Enceladus, one of the moons of Saturn. The Cassini spacecraft was headed toward a close pass by the moon's south pole when it snapped this view, which was compiled from three images. The two large, overlapping craters near the center are Ali Baba and Aladdin. The wrinkled terrain at right is fairly young. Long cracks also snake across the moon's icy surface. [NASA/JPL/SSI]