The Moons of Saturn

[Waspie_Dwarf]

Daphnis Up Close

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The wavemaker moon, Daphnis, is featured in this view, taken as NASA's Cassini spacecraft made one of its ring-grazing passes over the outer edges of Saturn's rings on Jan. 16, 2017. This is the closest view of the small moon obtained yet.

Daphnis (5 miles or 8 kilometers across) orbits within the 42-kilometer (26-mile) wide Keeler Gap. Cassini's viewing angle causes the gap to appear narrower than it actually is, due to foreshortening.

  Read More: NASA

 

[Merc14]

That is a truly amazing image.

[Stiff]

Incredible.

[MWoo7]

DangIT those look way better than my so so program .... yeah SUPER ! Incredible ! I wholeheartedly concur! HERE HERE !

[taniwha]

Awesome if we could capture it and bring it back to Earth for closer inspection!

[Thorvir]

4 hours ago, taniwha said:

Awesome if we could capture it and bring it back to Earth for closer inspection!

But wouldn't that screw up Saturn's rings?

[Merc14]

32 minutes ago, Thorvir said:

But wouldn't that screw up Saturn's rings?

It would definitely screw up my desktop background which is currently Daphnis interacting with Saturn's ring

Edited January 20, 2017 by Merc14

[Merc14]

I wonder if the ridges are like solid stone or just gathered dust you could disturb with the slightest breath?

[brlesq1]

4 minutes ago, Merc14 said:

 

I wonder if the ridges are like solid stone or just gathered dust you could disturb with the slightest breath?

 

Awesome shot. I thought it was already established that Saturn's rings were made up of dust. Of course, I could be wrong.

[Merc14]

10 minutes ago, brlesq1 said:

Awesome shot. I thought it was already established that Saturn's rings were made up of dust. Of course, I could be wrong.

I mean the ridges on Daphnis itself, not the rings.  Obviously accumulated debris from the rings but are they solid or ephemeral?

[Vorg]

That's an awesome picture.

[Waspie_Dwarf]

Here's Looking at You, Tethys

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Tethys, one of Saturn's larger icy moons, vaguely resembles an eyeball staring off into space in this view from NASA's Cassini spacecraft. The resemblance is due to the enormous crater, Odysseus, and its complex of central peaks.

  Read More: NASA

 

[freetoroam]

Stunning and that is some crater.

[Waspie_Dwarf]

Coy Dione

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Dione's lit hemisphere faces away from Cassini's camera, yet the moon's darkened surface features are dimly illuminated in this image, due to Saturnshine.

Although direct sunlight provides the best illumination for imaging, light reflected off of Saturn can do the job as well. In this image, Dione (698 miles or 1,123 kilometers across) is above Saturn's day side, and the moon's night side is faintly illuminated by sunlight reflected off the planet's disk.

  Read More: NASA

 

[Waspie_Dwarf]

The Realm of Daphnis

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Daphnis, one of Saturn's ring-embedded moons, is featured in this view, kicking up waves as it orbits within the Keeler gap. The mosaic combines several images to show more waves in the gap edges than seen in a previously released image, PIA21056.

Daphnis is a small moon at 5 miles (8 kilometers) across, but its gravity is powerful enough to disrupt the tiny particles of the A ring that form the Keeler gap's edge. As the moon moves through the Keeler gap, wave-like features are created in both the horizontal and vertical plane.

  Read More: NASA

 

[Waspie_Dwarf]

Rays of Creusa

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When viewed from a distance with the sun directly behind Cassini, the larger, brighter craters really stand out on moons like Dione.

Among these larger craters, some leave bright ray patterns across the moon, calling attention to their existence and to the violence of their creation.

The rayed crater seen here on Dione (698 miles, or 1,123 kilometers across) is named Creusa. The rays are brighter material blasted out by the impact that formed the crater.

  Read More: NASA

 

 

Edited February 22, 2017 by Waspie_Dwarf

[Waspie_Dwarf]

Dichotomy

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Enceladus is a world divided. To the north, we see copious amounts of craters and evidence of the many impacts the moon has suffered in its history. However, to the south we see a smoother body with wrinkles due to geologic activity.

Most solar system bodies lacking an atmosphere are heavily cratered like Enceladus' (313 miles or 504 kilometers across) northern region. However, the geologic activity in the south, including the famous plume above the moon's south pole, can erase craters and leave a younger, smoother-looking surface.

  Read More: NASA

 

[Waspie_Dwarf]

The Big One

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Mimas' gigantic crater Herschel lies near the moon's limb in this Cassini view.

A big enough impact could potentially break up a moon. Luckily for Mimas, whatever created Herschel was not quite big enough to cause that level of disruption.

When large impacts happen, they deliver tremendous amounts of energy -- sometimes enough to cause global destruction.  Even impacts that are not catastrophic can leave enormous, near-permanent scars on bodies like Mimas (246 miles or 396 kilometers across).

  Read More: NASA

 

[Waspie_Dwarf]

Farewell to Mimas

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In its season of "lasts," NASA's Cassini spacecraft made its final close approach to Saturn's moon Mimas on January 30, 2017. At closest approach, Cassini passed 25,620 miles (41,230 kilometers) from Mimas. All future observations of Mimas will be from more than twice this distance.

This mosaic is one of the highest resolution views ever captured of the icy moon.

  Read More: NASA

 

[Waspie_Dwarf]

Dark Chasm

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The low angle of the sun over Tethys' massive canyon, Ithaca Chasma (near the terminator, at right), highlights the contours of this enormous rift.

Ithaca Chasma is up to 60 miles (100 kilometers) wide, and runs nearly three-fourths of the way around icy Tethys (660 miles or 1,062 kilometers across). The canyon has a maximum depth of nearly 2.4 miles (4 kilometers) deep.

  Read More: NASA

 

[Waspie_Dwarf]

North Pole of Enceladus

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In the north, Enceladus' surface appears to be about as old as any in the solar system. The south, however, is an entirely different story.

The north polar area of Enceladus (313 miles or 504 kilometers across) seen here is heavily cratered, an indication that the surface has not been renewed since quite long ago. But the south polar region shows signs of intense geologic activity, most prominently focused around the long fractures known as "tiger stripes" that spray gas and tiny particles from the moon.

  Read More: NASA

 

[Waspie_Dwarf]

Slim Crescent of Ice

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The low angle of sunlight along the slim crescent of Saturn's moon Enceladus (313 miles or 504 kilometers across) highlights the many fractures and furrows on its icy surface.

This view looks toward the Saturn-facing hemisphere of Enceladus, which is dimly illuminated in the image above by sunlight reflected off Saturn.

  Read More: NASA

 

[Waspie_Dwarf]

Mimas Dwarfed

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From high above Saturn's northern hemisphere, NASA's Cassini spacecraft gazes over the planet's north pole, with its intriguing hexagon and bullseye-like central vortex.

Saturn's moon Mimas is visible as a mere speck near upper right. At 246 miles (396 kilometers across) across, Mimas is considered a medium-sized moon. It is large enough for its own gravity to have made it round, but isn't one of the really large moons in our solar system, like Titan. Even enormous Titan is tiny beside the mighty gas giant Saturn.

  Read More: NASA

 

[Waspie_Dwarf]

Puzzled Iapetus

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Iapetus is a world of contrast, with light and dark regions fitting together like cosmic puzzle pieces.

Cassini Regio on Iapetus (914 miles or 1,471 kilometers across) is covered in a layer of dark, dusty material creating a stark contrast to the much brighter region that surrounds it. This leads to the moon's distinctive, two-toned appearance. To learn more about the cause of the contrast between regions, see PIA06166.

  Read More: NASA

 

[Why not]

That's pretty cool, Thanks. I liked the pictures and story about the moon Pan. It's amazing how these moons form.