# @nasa on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/Cm1qi3XsUmN
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/2841624-nasa-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/02b9624326.jpg
- **Posted:** 2022-12-31T16:10:00.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** NASA (@NASA) — https://gondola.cc/NASA

## Caption

Ring in the new year! 🪐
 
We’re celebrating like it’s 1999—the year that NASAHubble captured this image of Saturn, the sixth planet from our Sun. 

Hubble took several photos of Saturn between 1996 and 2000, observing how its rings appear differently from our perspective as the gas giant makes its 29-year-long journey around the Sun. For instance, when Saturn’s rings are viewed from their edge on, they seem to be small and thin. However, when the planet’s orbit has moved enough that they can be viewed from an angle, the full picturesque breadth of Saturn’s iconic rings can be seen. 
 
The particles that make up Saturn’s rings mostly range from tiny, dust-sized icy grains to chunks as big as a house, with a few particles as large as mountains. Saturn's rings are thought to be pieces of comets, asteroids, or shattered moons that broke up before they reached the planet, torn apart by its powerful gravity. One of the most impressive sights in our solar system, Saturn continues to allure astronomers, with recent NASAWebb observations targeting its largest moon Titan. Saturn has also been visited by four robotic missions—including our Cassini spacecraft, which dove into the planet's atmosphere in 2017.
 
Image Description: Saturn and its rings. The warm brown-and-creme hues of Saturn’s cloudy atmosphere present a gradient of color against the dark blackness of space. At its south pole, the darkest shades of the ombré pattern create a circle of earthy brown. Circling Saturn, grey rings are intersected by the Cassini Division, a gap measuring 2,920 miles (4,700 kilometers), which breaks up the otherwise halo-like rings. 
 
Credit: NASA and The Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA); Acknowledgment: R.G. French (Wellesley College), J. Cuzzi (NASA/Ames), L. Dones (SwRI), and J. Lissauer (NASA/Ames)
 
#NASA #Space #NewYear #NewYearsEve #Saturn #Hubble #Telescope #Planet #SolarSystem

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## Tags

nasa, hubble, space, newyearseve, saturn, solarsystem, telescope, newyear, planet

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