Saturn's ring has always been mysterious. Over the years, it continues to baffle scientists and astronomers with strange gaps, warps and glow that pulls in the interest of many enthusiasts. Recently, a bright white spot glows on top of Saturn's B ring, as captured by NASA's Cassini spacecraft.

The mysterious glow on Saturn's B ring caught the interest of the scientific community when the Cassini spacecraft observing Saturn and its moons captured the image. The image clearly shows a glowing spot on its B ring. 

A spot on Saturn's B ring appears to be sparkling or glowing in the image taken by Cassini. The mysterious "glow," or surge, is hard to disregard from the image. However, experts say that there is nothing unusual, as the glow is only an optical illusion caused by the Sun's alignment with Cassini.

Experts from NASA say that when the Sun is positioned behind Cassini, it creates an "opposition surge" that makes a part of its B ring glow. When an "opposite surge" occurs, a certain part of the ring will appear brighter than the rest.

"An opposition surge occurs when the sun is directly behind the observer looking toward the rings," a NASA official said in a press release.

The opposition causes the shadows of the ring particles to position opposite of the Sun, creating a glow that can be seen from the Cassini spacecraft. The electric and magnetic field also play a role in the formation of the "opposition surge." Both the electric and magnetic field of the scattered radiation move and fluctuate in sync rather than cancelling out, according to a report.

This creates the optical illusion captured in the photo. This is not the only optical illusion captured by Cassini. Earlier this year, Saturn's ring appeared as if it was bent due to the movement of light.

The Cassini spacecraft took the image of the glow on Saturn's ring on June 26 at a distance of about 940,000 miles away from the planet.

 

Tags Cassini, Cassini Mission, Cassini Spacecraft, NASA Cassini, Cassini Mission in Saturn, Saturn, Saturn Rings, Saturn B ring, glow in Saturn ring, glow in Saturn's B ring, Ring, opposition surge, NASA

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