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
Go to topicThe image was taken by the NASA/ESA/ASI Cassini-Huygens spacecraft wide-angle camera on 1 July 2004, just after the spacecraft had crossed the ring plane following Saturn orbit insertion.
The maximum radial resolution is approximately 7 kilometres per pixel. The region from the A ring to the F ring spans some 3500 kilometres. The image has been enhanced to show the presence of faint ring material just beyond the edge of the A ring and in the orbit of Atlas (indicated by the dotted red line).
The moon Prometheus (102 kilometres across) can be seen close to the F ring at the lower left of the image.