--- description: The Cassini spacecraft, fast approaching its last days of exploring Saturn, captured a view of the planet's north pole title: The Spacecraft Cassini Captured the First Detailed View of Saturn’s North Pole image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd057c93507723942/6988dbaafb4eac5fc8893806/pia21343_full.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Science](/section/science/) ## Science Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Space](/tag/space/) ## Space Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # The Spacecraft Cassini Captured the First Detailed View of Saturn’s North Pole by [Mahita Gajanan](/author/mahita-gajanan/) ## Mahita Gajanan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Gajanan is an editor at TIME. Aug 29, 2017 3:00 PM CUT  IDL TIFF file IDL TIFF fileNASA by [Mahita Gajanan](/author/mahita-gajanan/) ## Mahita Gajanan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Gajanan is an editor at TIME. Aug 29, 2017 3:00 PM CUT The [Cassini spacecraft](http://time.com/4755236/google-doodle-cassini-spacecraft-saturn-rings/ "undefined"), 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](https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/jpl/pia21343/top-of-the-world "undefined"). 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](http://time.com/4593655/cassini-spacecraft-mission-end-saturn-space/ "undefined") on Sept. 15 by crashing into Saturn’s clouds and succumbing to the planet’s atmosphere. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4919936/cassini-saturn-photo/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4919936/cassini-saturn-photo/"},"headline":"The Spacecraft Cassini Captured the First Detailed View of Saturn’s North Pole","datePublished":"2017-08-29T15:00:22.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T17:12:24.106Z","description":"See the sun hitting the gas giant's north pole","url":"https://time.com/4919936/cassini-saturn-photo/","keywords":["Space","onetime","space 2017"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd057c93507723942/6988dbaafb4eac5fc8893806/pia21343_full.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Mahita Gajanan","jobTitle":"Gajanan is an editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/mahita-gajanan/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd057c93507723942/6988dbaafb4eac5fc8893806/pia21343_full.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"IDL TIFF file","caption":"IDL TIFF file","creditText":"NASA","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/science/","name":"Science"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/space/","name":"Space"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4919936/cassini-saturn-photo/","name":"The Spacecraft Cassini Captured the First Detailed View of Saturn’s North Pole"}}]}] ```