Daphnis, a small moon of Saturn, orbits within the Keeler Gap and exerts a noticeable gravitational pull on Saturn’s rings. This effect creates striking wave-like patterns along the ring edges, offering a visual glimpse into gravitational interactions in planetary systems.
Source: NASA : https://science.nasa.gov/saturn/moons/daphnis/
Is this a real "photograph" (including non-visible or even radar imagery) or computer generated from a simulation of some sort?
This is almost certainly an exaggerated rendering, however this is an actual photo from 2017:
There's a few different photos in different articles, but I haven't found the image in the OP anywhere. The OP image is straight from reddit.
Edit: This one is my favourite:
Also:
Edit2: Here's another that shows the ripples ahead and behind the moon. This happens because the inner ring orbits faster than Daphnis, while the outer ring orbits slower:
Here's a Daily Mail article that looks like the OP. Apparently this was from a simulation released by NASA in 2016. So basically they were superseded by actual images from Cressini's subsequent passes in 2017.
Thanks for that handy search result link.
Really makes me want to play Rings of Saturn again :)
I might give that a go lol
Just edited my comment btw, the OP is apparently from a simulation NASA released in 2016.
The steam page has a demo that features the full game but has saving disabled.
Highly recommend taking that for a quick ring-dive.
Nah I just went on GOG and got it for cheaper :)