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.
Find out more about space activities in our 23 Member States, and understand how ESA works together with their national agencies, institutions and organisations.
Exploring our Solar System and unlocking the secrets of the Universe
Go to topicProtecting life and infrastructure on Earth and in orbit
Go to topicUsing space to benefit citizens and meet future challenges on Earth
Go to topicMaking space accessible and developing the technologies for the future
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Saturn's bright equatorial band displays an exquisite swirl near the planet's eastern limb. This image was taken with the Cassini-Huygens narrow-angle camera on 18 May 2004, from a distance of 23.4 million kilometres from Saturn.
The camera used a filter sensitive to absorption and scattering of sunlight by methane gas in the infrared (centred at 889 nanometres). The image scale is 139 kilometres per pixel. No contrast enhancement has been performed on this image.
The Cassini-Huygens mission is a co-operative project of NASA, ESA and ASI, the Italian space agency.