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Collection:
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NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day Collection
Collection
NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day Collection
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Title:
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A Great White Spot on Rhea
Title
A Great White Spot on Rhea
Title
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Explanation:
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What caused this great white spot on the surface of Saturn's moon Rhea? The spot was first noticed last year by the robot Cassini spacecraft [ http://saturn.jpl.n…] now orbiting Saturn [ http://www.solarvie…]. Cassini's flyby of Rhea [ http://www.nineplan…] in April imaged [ http://photojournal…] in the spot in great detail. Astronomers hypothesize [ http://saturn.jpl.n…] that the light-colored spot is the result of a relatively recent impact [ http://www.spacegra…] on the surface of the icy moon. The impact that likely created the crater also splashed light-colored material from the interior onto the darker surface. Rhea [ http://en.wikipedia. org/wiki/Rhea_(mytho logy) ] spans 1,500 kilometers across and is the second largest moon of Saturn after Titan [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…]. Rhea sports several other light colored surface features [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] that are, as yet, not well understood.
Explanation
What caused this great white spot on the surface of Saturn's moon Rhea? The spot was first noticed last year by the robot Cassini spacecraft [ http://saturn.jpl.n…] now orbiting Saturn [ http://www.solarvie…]. Cassini's flyby of Rhea [ http://www.nineplan…] in April imaged [ http://photojournal…] in the spot in great detail. Astronomers hypothesize [ http://saturn.jpl.n…] that the light-colored spot is the result of a relatively recent impact [ http://www.spacegra…] on the surface of the icy moon. The impact that likely created the crater also splashed light-colored material from the interior onto the darker surface. Rhea [ http://en.wikipedia. org/wiki/Rhea_(mytho logy) ] spans 1,500 kilometers across and is the second largest moon of Saturn after Titan [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…]. Rhea sports several other light colored surface features [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] that are, as yet, not well understood. Explanation
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Credit and Copyright:
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Credit_and_Copyright
Credit and Copyright
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Arizona
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Arizona
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Saturn
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Saturn
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Hawaii
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Hawaii
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Rhea
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Rhea
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Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC)
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Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC)
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Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)
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Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)
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Moon
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Moon
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Saturn
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Saturn
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Cassini
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Cassini
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Crater
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Crater
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Titan
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Titan
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Rhea
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Rhea
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Advanced Communication Technology Satellite (ACTS)
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Advanced Communication Technology Satellite (ACTS)
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original url:
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original_url
original url
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UID:
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SPD-APOD-ap050530
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SPD-APOD-ap050530
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