March 17, 1996
On the day you arrived, the Earth was spinning at a thousand miles per hour, orbiting the Sun at sixty-seven thousand.
Saturn's Cloud Tops
Birthday · March 17, 1996
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APOD published March 17, 1996. Full image credits are on the original APOD entry below. A publication-date match, not a photo taken on your date. Independent of NASA.
This close-up of the tops of Saturn's clouds was taken by the Voyager 1 robot spacecraft as it passed the giant planet in November 1980. Saturn's clouds are mostly composed of hydrogen and helium gas, but the small addition of other elements gives the clouds their colors. These colors have been computer enhanced in the above photograph. Usually the clouds are divided into just bands and belt, but the center of this photograph shows the addition of a red oval cloud. The oval's origin remains a mystery, although its color indicates that its composition is slightly different than surrounding clouds. A new spacecraft - Cassini - will visit Saturn and is currently scheduled for launch in 1997. Information: The Scale of the Universe Debate in April 1996