What are the camera filters?
To increase their scientific value, cameras on Cassini have two filter wheels in order to take images at specific wavelengths of light. Some filters only allow light of a certain color to reach the sensor. Combining three such images can produce a color image. Other filters pass light at a specific wavelength absorbed by an element such as hydrogen or methane. This allows scientists to measure where these elements are and at what abundances. Other filters, called polarizers, allow light oriented in a certain direction to reach the sensor. These filters are capable to see through a hazy atmosphere. Light passes through both filter wheels before it reaches the camera’s sensor. Scientists planning an image must chose one filter from wheel one and one filter from the other. The result is the combination of the filters; light that is passed by both filters reaches the sensor. Scientists can have the effect of choosing only one filter by using the “clear filter” on the other wheel. The table
