Undoubtedly, of the wonders of the solar system, Saturn's angelic rings stand out as a fan-favorite. And in 1997, with its eye on the prize, the Cassini spacecraft embarked on a seven year voyage to Saturn with the mission of conducting the most rigorous survey ever of the planet, its moons and, of course, those spectacular rings.
Before the spacecraft plunged into Saturn's atmosphere in 2017, Cassini repeatedly flew between the planet and its rings while collecting an abundance of data. Now, using that data, captured with the Langmuir Probe onboard the craft, planetary scientists have measured the optical depth of Saturn's rings — albeit in an unconventional way. It has to do with solar eclipses the spacecraft "saw" while on its journey. Here's what that means.
