IRTF S NSFCAM: Saturn System Infrared Images from 1995 Ring Plane Crossing

IRTF images of the Saturn system were obtained with the NSFCam in early August 1995. The observations were made four days prior to the ring plane crossing and include sequences of rapid exposures of several satellite mutual events and spectroscopic data of the main rings and the E and G rings. The dataset is provided by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and was last updated in March 2026.

Use Cases

• Analyzing the geometry and structure of Saturn's rings based on spectroscopic data mentioned in the description
• Studying the dynamics and timing of satellite mutual events based on sequences of rapid exposures
• Modeling the ring plane crossing event based on observations from August 1995
• Investigating the composition of the E and G rings based on the spectroscopic data

Strengths

• Observations were made during a specific astronomical event (four days prior to the 1995 ring plane crossing).
• Data includes multiple observation types (rapid exposure sequences and spectroscopic data).
• Dataset is sourced from a major space agency (NASA).

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count and file size are unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data is from a single, specific time period (early August 1995).

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Observations made with the NSFCam instrument on the IRTF telescope.

Time Range

Early August 1995

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 18:25:19.368870; freshness should be verified

Geography

Saturn system