Explore Saturn’s moons in Google’s Solar System tour

You can explore the moons of Jupiter and Saturn, as well as the planets Mercury, Venus and Mars, in a collection of stunning new images on Google Maps.

The images of Saturn’s moons were taken by the Cassini probe, which launched in 1997 and spent 13 years orbiting the planet before crashing into its atmosphere in September. During its mission, run by Nasa, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency, it captured over 500,000 images, which have now been stitched together by scientists.

Highlights include the icy Enceladus, Saturn’s sixthlargest moon, where Cassini discovered water beneath the crust. Just as spectacular are the images of Titan, Saturn’s largest moon (see main screenshot), home to methane lakes beneath the thick clouds. In total there are 12 new worlds to explore, including the dwarf planets Pluto and Ceres.

Google has also added images from the International Space Station (ISS), giving you an astronaut’s view of the Solar System. The view pictured below left is looking at Earth from the Cupola, a small module that lets astronauts watch operations that take place outside the ISS, like the approach of vehicles.

Explore the images by visiting www.snipca.com/ 26013 then clicking a location on the left. Zoom in and out using the bottom-right plus and minus buttons, or by scrolling your mouse wheel. You can rotate the image by clicking it then moving your mouse. Read more on Google’s blog: www.snipca.com/26011.