About ESA
The European Space Agency (ESA) is Europe’s gateway to space. Its mission is to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world.
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Space in Member States
Find out more about space activities in our 23 Member States, and understand how ESA works together with their national agencies, institutions and organisations.
Germany
Austria
Belgium
Denmark
Spain
Estonia
Finland
France
Greece
Hungary
Ireland
Italy
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Romania
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Science & Exploration
Exploring our Solar System and unlocking the secrets of the Universe
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Enabling & Support
Making space accessible and developing the technologies for the future
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True-colour image of Saturn
The Hubble Space Telescope has provided images of Saturn in many colours, from black-and-white, to orange, to blue, green and red. But in this picture, image processing specialists have worked to provide a crisp, accurate view that highlights the planet's pastel colours. Bands of subtle colour - yellows, browns, greys - distinguish differences in the clouds. Saturn's high-altitude clouds are made of colourless ammonia ice. Above these clouds is a layer of haze or smog, produced when ultraviolet light from the Sun shines on methane gas. The smog contributes to the planet's subtle colour variations. One of Saturn's moons, Enceladus, is seen casting a shadow on the giant planet as it passes just above the ring system. The planet's ring system, consisting mostly of chunks of water ice, appears as if the disk is composed of only a few rings. It actually consists of tens of thousands of thin 'ringlets.' This picture also shows the two classic divisions in the ring system. The narrow Encke Gap is nearest to the disk's outer edge; the Cassini division is the wide gap near the centre. At the time of the 10-minute exposure by Hubble's WFPC2 Planetary Camera, Saturn was 1300 million km from Earth. [Image Date: 30-09-96] [98.11.006-001]
