Saturn and its Ring System

Voyager 2 returned this view of Saturn and its ring system Aug. 11, when the spacecraft was 13.9 million kilometers (8.6 million miles) away and approaching the large, gaseous planet at about l million km. (620,000 mi.) a day. The ring system's shadow is clearly cast in the equatorial region. Storm clouds and small-scale spots in the mid-latitudes are apparent. The so-called "ribbonlike" feature in the white cloud band marks a high-speed jet at about 47 north; there, the westerly wind speeds are about 150 meters-per-second (330 mph). The banding on this large, gaseous planet extends toward both poles.