Interpreting image "CASSINI AT SATURN - Present Positio

[John Dlugosz]

At http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/operation...t-position.cfm in the View of Saturn from Cassini, there are orbit lines pasing through the edges of the frame. One is the left side and bottom, the other is the top, bending sharply, and bottom.

What are they? If that's Cassini's own track, I don't see how it can be above and left of it, or why two tracks point paralell. I don't see a similar feature in the other views.

--John

[tlbs101]

The line that starts near the top, and runs almost vertically down, through Saturn, then curves to the lower right, is the orbital track of Saturn around the Sun. It is skewed, because Cassini is not in the same orbit plane around Saturn, as Saturn is around the Sun (this will be corrected over the course of the next year).

The other track is probably the orbital track of Uranus. Being that it is more distant, the skewing relative to Cassini is not as apparent.

[John Dlugosz]

The other track is probably the orbital track of Uranus. Being that it is more distant, the skewing relative to Cassini is not as apparent.

I'm not convinced. Uranus would be behind the viewer, I should think.

[umop ap!sdn]

But its orbit is farther out, so the orbit would be visible even when Uranus is outside the viewing area. In the image, the stars in the background appear to be the constellation Pisces, and the line is consistent with Uranus' orbit in that part of the sky.