Comments on: In Saturn's Shadow

In Saturn's Shadow

cerebus19 — Mon, 16 Oct 2006 06:45:43 -0800

In Saturn's Shadow. Pictures of Saturn like none you've seen before, taken by Cassini while the planet was in between the probe and the sun. You can just make out Earth in the photos. Previously.

By: flapjax at midnite

flapjax at midnite — Mon, 16 Oct 2006 06:51:40 -0800

Well, if I was just seeing these images with no accompaning text/explanations I'd certainly think they were illustrations, not photographs. Amazing.

By: zsazsa

zsazsa — Mon, 16 Oct 2006 06:55:11 -0800

So when can we all get to be space tourists and go see this for ourselves? Screw suborbital flights, I wanna see Saturn!

By: CynicalKnight

CynicalKnight — Mon, 16 Oct 2006 07:07:53 -0800

Saturn's got a lot of junk in the trunk.

By: Blazecock Pileon

Blazecock Pileon — Mon, 16 Oct 2006 07:22:02 -0800

Those pics sent chills down my spine. The universe is truly a beautiful thing.

By: peacay

peacay — Mon, 16 Oct 2006 07:58:56 -0800

Wow. Thanks for posting this.

By: WhipSmart

WhipSmart — Mon, 16 Oct 2006 07:59:59 -0800

Unreal... simply incredible...

By: hal9k

hal9k — Mon, 16 Oct 2006 08:12:33 -0800

I predict Pink Floyd will make amends and squeeze out another album simply to have this on the cover.

By: cgc373

cgc373 — Mon, 16 Oct 2006 08:28:30 -0800

Regarding this, Bruce Sterling said, "If that image doesn't inspire you with awe, you're uninspirable."

By: quin

quin — Mon, 16 Oct 2006 09:11:44 -0800

That's just flat out amazing.

By: aliasless

aliasless — Mon, 16 Oct 2006 09:31:09 -0800

Beautiful. It's been an exciting month for space pr0n.

By: languagehat

languagehat — Mon, 16 Oct 2006 09:45:12 -0800

Wow indeed. Thanks for this.

By: kfx

kfx — Mon, 16 Oct 2006 10:35:25 -0800

I've mentioned before how, as a sprat, I would frequently escape the real world into a fantastical place where each of the planets in our solar system had a people that lived on them, and each of those people had something about them that made them fascinating to me. Pluto had the toy soldiers, driving their slaves to row around and around the planet without end. On Venus, the only way two parents could have a child was for one of them to die and give their soul away to the newcomer - birth was both a joy and a tragedy, and each newborn was ushered into the world with a baptism of tears at the one who had passed away moments before. But Saturn was by far my favorite. Those people could fly; yet they had been forced to live underground by the damage done to the surface of their planet by their formerly warlike ways. And so they spent their lives far beneath the sky, in dark tunnels that were kept alight by tired old machines that were forever chugging and sputtering so that they could see, and so that they could breathe. Yet being able to see was not the gift it might seem; because it reminded them of their place, and that they would never get a chance to unfold their wings and would never know what it must have been like to soar past the clouds with absolute freedom. Saturn, then, to me is a symbol of possibility unrealized, potential that has been wasted, and the regret one feels when they find out that they will forever be paying for a mistake made long ago. These pictures struck a very deep chord with me.

By: LeeJay

LeeJay — Mon, 16 Oct 2006 10:53:47 -0800

Unreal and completely awesome.

By: dejah420

dejah420 — Mon, 16 Oct 2006 12:21:16 -0800

Fantastic!

By: Smedleyman

Smedleyman — Mon, 16 Oct 2006 14:18:53 -0800

Nifty. Thanks for this.

By: phrontist

phrontist — Mon, 16 Oct 2006 14:43:50 -0800

Thanks kfx.

By: casarkos

casarkos — Mon, 16 Oct 2006 21:57:45 -0800

oooh pretty. thanks!