Media Information

 
 
 
Collection:
NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day Collection
Title:
Iapetus: Saturn's Disappearing Moon
Explanation:
Iapetus [ http://seds.lpl.ari…] has an unusual surface, one half of which is very dark, the other half very light. This caused it's discoverer Cassini [ http://seds.lpl.ari…] to remark that Iapetus [ http://www.c3.lanl.…] could only be seen when on one side of Saturn but not the other. The reason for the difference between hemispheres is presently unknown. Iapetus is the third largest of Saturn [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…]'s moon behind Titan [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] and Rhea [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…]. Iapetus is composed predominantly of water ice.
Credit and Copyright:
NASA [ http://www.nasa.gov/], Voyager [ http://vraptor.jpl.…], Copyright Calvin J. Hamilton
facet_where:
Arizona
facet_where:
Saturn
facet_where:
Hamilton
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Rhea
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Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC)
facet_where:
Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)
facet_what:
Voyager
facet_what:
Moon
facet_what:
Saturn
facet_what:
Cassini
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Titan
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Rhea
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Iapetus
facet_what:
moon
original url:
UID:
SPD-APOD-ap951015

Iapetus: Saturn's Disappearing Moon