The Cassini spacecraft, fast approaching its final days after more than a decade of exploring Saturn, captured a view of the planet’s north pole in April as it neared the gap between Saturn and its rings. The spacecraft’s photo, released on Monday, shows the sun hitting Saturn, offering the most detailed look yet at the planet’s north pole, according to NASA.
Cassini captured the photo on the first day of its “Grand Finale,” or, last grazing orbit of Saturn. The spacecraft, which has explored the ringed gas giant since 2004, has reached the end of its useful life. It will commit suicide on Sept. 15 by crashing into Saturn’s clouds and succumbing to the planet’s atmosphere.
More Must-Read Stories From TIME
- How to Help Victims of the Texas School Shooting
- TIME's 100 Most Influential People of 2022
- What the Buffalo Tragedy Has to Do With the Effort to Overturn Roe
- Column: The U.S. Failed Miserably on COVID-19. Canada Shows It Didn't Have to Be That Way
- N.Y. Will Soon Require Businesses to Post Salaries in Job Listings. Here's What Happened When Colorado Did It
- The 46 Most Anticipated Movies of Summer 2022
- ‘We Are in a Moment of Reckoning.’ Amanda Nguyen on Taking the Fight for Sexual Violence Survivors to the U.N.
Read More From TIME