On the second to the last phase of the Cassini probe, since its launch in 1997 and upon its arrival at Saturn in 2004, this has been the first closer-than-the-rings images the spacecraft has captured. The orbiter craft which has been going around Saturn's rings has finally undergone its first of its 20 plunges, in order to see a closer look of Saturn, as it graces through its icy rings. The Cassini probe will be going through a nine-month ordeal, surviving gravitational hindrances and the fierce atmosphere of Saturn and its rings, just to provide NASA with all its needed data.

The plunge started on November 30, 2016, as it defies all odds, to capture the phenomenal hexagon-shape storm of Saturn in the northern hemisphere. In a recent report from SpaceFlight Insider, the images were taken on December 2 and 3 as it uses four separate spectral filters to determine the jet streams and the rings. It is estimated that each side of the hexagonal storm corresponds to the Earth's diameter captured by a wide-angle camera from a distance of approximately 240,000 miles at a scale of 14 miles per pixel.

With the help of Saturn's moon, Titan, its gravitational pull enables Cassini to cross the ring's plane as it stays there for a week before crossing again on the next plane. This process will happen only in every orbit when Cassini is closest to Saturn. This phase called the 'Ring-Grazing Orbit' as reported by SBS, will be the most crucial of its mission and was described by Cassini imaging team leader Dr. Carolyn Porco from the Space Science Institute as the "beginning of the end" of their historic exploration of Saturn.

Cassini probe is expected to capture closer-than-ever-before images of Saturn's rings, small moons and Saturn itself while it prepares its final plunge on September 2017. There, the orbiter will make its Grand Finale as it goes deeper to the haze of Saturn where it will still gather data of Saturn's composition until its last signal.

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