High above the fray

One thing that's very attractive about astronomy and solar system exploration is the feeling one gets of being detached from the crazy goings-on here on this dizzy planet.

Here we have the latest from the Cassini spacecraft busily orbiting Saturn, giving us breath-taking views of the 6th planet. The one above was composed from 36 separate images. The planet itself is over-exposed to give a better view of the rings.

Here's the link to the NASA Cassini page. There you can find a huge version (4088 x 2908 pixels) of this photo to download if you're so inclined. I sure am. It's now the wallpaper for my Windows desktop.