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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This close-up of Saturn's southern hemisphere shows several dark spots huddled in the mid-latitude region. The largest of these spots is about 3000 kilometres across, or about as wide as Japan is long.
Also visible are light-coloured, lacy cloud patterns indicative of atmospheric turbulence. The image was taken with the Cassini narrow-angle camera through a near-infrared filter on 7 May 2004, from a distance of 28.2 million kilometres from Saturn.
Image scale of the high-resolution image is 168 kilometres per pixel. The image has been contrast-enhanced to aid visibility.