via CICLOPS

Again, a fantastic view of Saturn.

As seasons change on Saturn, and sunlight creeps farther north, the region surrounding the north pole is steadily coming to light.

This scene reveals many features in Saturn’s dynamic and beautiful atmosphere, including a detail largely obscured from the imaging cameras until now. On the terminator at center right is part of the polar hexagon, which was previously observed by Cassini’s Visible and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (VIMS) and Composite Infrared Spectrometer (CIRS). These instruments used heat radiated from Saturn to observe the polar hexagon (rather than reflected sunlight, as is the case in this view). The hexagon was first imaged by the Voyager spacecraft more than 25 years ago.

The view looks toward the unilluminated side of the rings from about 38 degrees above the ringplane and is centered on a region 63 degrees north of the Saturnian equator.

The image has been brightened to show details at high northern latitudes, where solar illumination is presently weak.