A new iconic image of the Space Age..?

There are quite a few images taken during the ‘Space age’ widely agreed to be “iconic”: “Earthrise”… the bootprint on the Moon… Buzz Aldrin standing on the Moon in that Napoleonic pose… the discovery image of Io’s volcanoes…

Introducing a new one, an image that will be featured in books for years and years to come; an image that offers us a tantalising glimpse into the future, to the day when astronauts actually travel to Saturn and see such amazing sights with their own, startled, wonder-widened eyes…

What you’re seeing there, if I’m ‘reading’ it correctly, is the dark horizon of Enceladus at the bottom, with Titan rising up (or setting) beyond it, itself sliced by Saturn’s rings.

Incredible. Just incredible.

Cassini has taken some stunning images out at Saturn, but this one is one of its best. You’re going to see it e v e r y w h e r e….

And this one, showing three of the “fountains of Enceladus”, isn’t bad either…

 

And people ask me why I’m so fascinated by “space”… 🙂