Hubble's view of Saturn, edge-on

The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope captured
Saturn on 22 May 1995 as the planet's magnificent ring system
turned edge-on. This ring-plane crossing occurs approximately
every 15 years when the Earth passes through Saturn's ring plane.

For comparison, the top picture was taken by Hubble on
1 December 1994 and shows the rings in a more familiar
configuration for Earth observers.

The bottom picture was taken shortly before the ring plane
crossing. The rings do not disappear completely because
the edge of the rings reflects sunlight. The dark band across
the middle of Saturn is the shadow of the rings cast on the
planet (the Sun is almost 3 degrees above the ring plane.)
The bright stripe directly above the ring shadow is caused
by sunlight reflected off the rings onto Saturn's atmosphere.
Two of Saturn's icy moons are visible as tiny starlike objects
in or near the ring plane. They are, from left to right, Tethys
(slightly above the ring plane) and Dione.