Neon Saturn (APOD 3/13/2016)

http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap160313.html

Neon Saturn
Image Credit: VIMS Team, U. Arizona, ESA, NASA

Explanation: If seen in the right light, Saturn glows like a neon sign.
Although Saturn has comparatively little of the element neon, a composite
image false-colored in three bands of infrared light highlights features
of the giant ringed planet like a glowing sign. At the most blue band of
the infrared light featured, false-colored blue in the above image,
Saturn itself appears dark but Saturn's thin rings brightly reflect light
from our Sun. Conversely, Saturn's B ring is so thick that little
reflected light makes it through, creating a dark band between Saturn's A
and C rings. At the most red band of the infrared, false-colored red
above, Saturn emits a surprisingly detailed thermal glow, indicating
planet-wide bands, huge hurricane-like storms, and a strange hexagon-
shaped cloud system around the North Pole. In the middle infrared band,
false-colored green, the sunlit side of Saturn's atmosphere reflects
brightly. The above image was obtained in 2007 by the robotic Cassini
spacecraft orbiting about 1.6 million kilometers out from Saturn.


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