An aurora, shining high above
the northern part of Saturn, moves
from the night side to the day side;
tall auroral curtains, rapidly
changing over time when viewed at the limb
of the planet’s northern hemisphere.
Irregularly shaped Calypso is one
of two Trojan moons that travel in
the same orbit of the larger moon Tethys;
Appearing like eyes on a potato,
craters cover the dimly lit surface
of the moon Prometheus.
Saturn’s moon Dione passes in front;
Enceladus continues to spew ice
into space; A closer view of Baghdad
Sulcus, one of four tiger stripes
that cross Enceladus’ south pole.
Cassini is on the night side
of the moon, viewing brightly-lit plumes
of ice being ejected from fissures
at Enceladus’ south pole. Rhea
looms near its sibling Epimetheus.
Cassini looks down on the clouds
just over the shoulder of the moon
Helene; Saturn’s rings, made dark
in part as the planet casts its shadow
across them, cut a striking figure
before Saturn’s largest moon, Titan.
The shadow darkens a huge portion
of the gas giant planet. Titan’s
golden, smog-like atmosphere
and complex layered hazes appear
to Cassini as a luminous ring
around the planet-sized moon.
From NASA’s notes on spacecraft Cassini’s photographs of Saturn, published in The Big Picture 21 May 2010.
Verbatim Poetry 