By October 24, 1980, when Voyager 1 was about 30 million kilometers (19 million miles) from Saturn, the spacecraft’s narrow-angle camera could no longer capture the planet in a single picture. Thus, a period of multiple images or mosaics began. By November 2, 1980, even four-picture mosaics could no longer cover the rapidly growing scene. Voyager 1’s pace of operations reached an exciting peak during the near-encounter phase from November 11 through November 13, 1980. While still about 1.6 million kilometers (1 million miles) from closest approach to Saturn, Voyager 1 encountered Titan on November 11, 1980, and then dipped below the ring plane as it accelerated rapidly toward Saturn. On November 12, 1980, Voyager 1 came within 124,000 kilometers (77,000 miles) of the cloudtops of Saturn’s southern hemisphere, where Saturn’s gravity altered the spacecraft’s course, hurtling the spacecraft upward past the ring plane. Close observation of Saturn’s other major satellites and its rings were made during this passage. From Earth to Saturn, Voyager 1 has traveled in the ecliptic plane, the plane in which the major planets orbit. Now, having completed its final planetary flyby, Voyager 1 is rising above this plane on a trajectory that will eventually carry it above and out of the solar system, probably before the end of this century. As it proceeds, the spacecraft will return information about the solar wind and magnetic fields in the far, unexplored reaches of our solar system and will observe cosmic rays emitted from the distant stars among which Voyager will ultimately cruise. Scientific Highlights Some of the most important information gathered by Voyager 1 on the Saturn system is presented pictorially in this publication and is supplemented here with brief summaries of the major discoveries, observations, and theories. SATURN Saturn’s atmosphere appears similar to Jupiter’s, with alternating dark belts and bright zones, circulating storm regions, and other dark and light cloud markings. Saturn’s belt and zone system extends to higher latitudes than those on Jupiter, and all of the features are muted by a thick atmospheric haze, perhaps 70 kilometers (40 miles) deep. Wind speeds up to 1500 kilometers per hour (900 miles per hour) occur at the equator—four to five times faster than any Jovian winds. Temperatures near the cloudtops range from 86 to 92 kelvins (-305° to -294° Fahrenheit)—nearly 60 degrees colder than at Jupiter. Saturn still radiates about 2.8 times as much heat as it receives from the Sun. The coolest temperatures are found at the center of the equatorial zone. Auroral emissions have been seen near Saturn’s poles, and auroral-type emissions have been seen in ultraviolet light near the illuminated limb of the planet.