Not Your Grandmother's Saturn

On the 15th of September the Cassini spacecraft found itself (by no accident I’m sure) positioned in such an advantageous point as to capture this image of Saturn – the sun completely masked and illuminating the rings from behind. Two versions are available: the original, and one with color contrast enhanced to show detail and be generally badass. The version above is my own, a roughly 50/50 composite of the two which I’ve cropped into desktops. More at NASA.

DOWNLOAD [desktop - widescreen (1920x1200)] DOWNLOAD [desktop - fullscreen (1600x1200)] LINK/IMAGES [full res original & enhanced + info @ NASA] (via Wohba!)

Update: For the purists (I feel you) here’s the original version cropped as well:

DOWNLOAD [desktop - widescreen (1920x1200)] DOWNLOAD [desktop - fullscreen (1600x1200)]

Related: From Whence We Came