Check out this photo that’s been making the rounds of the blogosphere this week:

This is a composite of some 150 photos taken by the Cassini spacecraft as it orbits the planet Saturn. As usual, you can click the image to get a larger view. The raw photos that comprise this were taken from within the shadow of the planet so the details of the rings would stand out clearly, backlighted by the distant sun. It’s a beautiful sight, isn’t it? Reminds me of a delicate antique Christmas tree ornament. Details on how it was done as well as more photos are available here.
In other space news that’s caught my eye this week, the old Houston control room that was used during the Apollo moon missions has been refitted and reactivated for use by the International Space Station; SETI has a new telescope array that’s dedicated to the search for alien signals, instead of a timeshare scenario; and that small Jovian storm that was discovered near the famous Great Red Spot — actually a gargantuan storm that’s been swirling in Jupiter’s atmosphere for centuries — has turned red itself, possibly indicating that it’s increasing in strength and drawing up material from deeper down in the planet’s atmosphere. The “Little Red Spot,” as it’s inevitably been dubbed, is the size of our entire planet…
It’s a wild universe out there, folks…