Siegfried/Joe, I don't know why the rings don't appear parallel with the belts but I suspect it has something to do with the main rusty red belt and the way it's slightly tapered. Also, if the band were more visible as it wrapped around into the shadowed limb it might give a more symmetric appearance. As for the missing top of Saturn...that's the shadow of the ring cast by the sun from below. I was fooled for a bit thinking the shadow on the rings was coming from the ring on the right on not from the sphere of the planet itself but we know that would be kind of tricky; the ring casting a shadow on itself. Dave Bennett On Monday, November 11, 2002, at 09:54 AM, Siegfried Jachmann wrote:
Joe,
I see it the same way and wondered the same thing even before reading your post. The ring is not parallel with the belts. I'm also wondering where the top of the planet disappeared to.
Siegfried Jachmann Family History Network Comptroller 801-553-8881
_______________________________________________ Utah-Astronomy mailing list Utah-Astronomy@mailman.xmission.com http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy