Is there any sight in the solar system to beat this?

The majestic rings of Saturn have enchanted astronomers since Galileo first described the planet’s ‘ears’. Our knowledge of the planet has improved vastly in recent years thanks to the Cassini mission, still arcing its way around the Saturn system. Now, the Royal Observatory, Greenwich offers visitors the chance to get up close and personal with the ringed planet and its attendant moons. The Visions of Saturn exhibition runs until 31 August and includes photos of ‘the whitest place in the solar system and a planet-sized moon where liquid methane rains from orange clouds’. Beautiful stuff.

To complement the exhibition three talks are planned next week. On Thursday 25 June, Brent Buffington from JPL talks about the trajectory planning of the spacecraft. The following evening, his colleague Rosaly Lopes delves deeper into Titan, the enigmatic moon of Saturn visited by the European Huygens probe a few years back. But the highlight comes on Saturday 27 June when Cassini’s Imaging Team leader Carolyn Porco gives a visual tour of the Saturn system. Porco has become something of a figurehead for the Cassini mission, in the same way Steve Squyres carries that mantle for the Mars rover missions. She even advised on the latest Star Trek movie (I think it’s obvious which bit). So this is a rare opportunity to hear from one of the key players in our current ‘golden age’ of planetary exploration.

Each talk runs from 7-8.30pm and costs £5.