NASA's Cassini mission isn't long for this galaxy. After 20 years in space, the craft will make a final dive into Saturn's atmosphere later this year. Until that happens, space fans will still have an opportunity to savor some of Cassini's spectacular final images, including this gorgeous view of Saturn and its rings.
NASA released the dramatic Saturn image on Monday as part of its Image of the Day series. Cassini snapped the photo on January 18 from a distance of about 630,000 miles (1 million kilometers).
NASA explains what we're seeing with the rings: "From this vantage point just beneath the ring plane, the dense B ring becomes dark and essentially opaque, letting almost no light pass through. But some light reflected by the planet passes through the less dense A ring, which appears above the B ring in this photo."
Other recent Cassini gems include a view of Saturn's ravioli-shaped moon Pan and some stunning close-ups of the planet's rings.
