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Uncovering Rhea
| Description |
Two Saturnian moons meet in the sky. Dione departs after crossing the face of Rhea for several minutes. |
| Full Description |
Two Saturnian moons meet in the sky. Dione departs after crossing the face of Rhea for several minutes. Dione (1,126 kilometers, or 700 miles across), at right, has a notably smoother-looking surface than Rhea (1,528 kilometers, or 949 miles across), suggesting the former has been modified more recently. The image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on May 14, 2006 at a distance of approximately 2.7 million kilometers (1.7 million miles) from Dione and 3.1 million kilometers (1.9 million miles) from Rhea. The Sun-moon-spacecraft, or phase, angle is about 134 degrees on both moons. Image scale is 16 kilometers (10 miles) per pixel on Dione and 18 kilometers (11 miles) per pixel on Rhea. The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras were designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The imaging operations center is based at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colo. For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov . The Cassini imaging team homepage is at http://ciclops.org . *Credit:* NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute |
| Date |
June 20, 2006 |
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A Real Shiner
| Description |
A Real Shiner |
| Full Description |
Saturn's moon Rhea shows off the moon equivalent of a black eye -- a bright, rayed crater near its eastern limb. Rhea is about half the size of Earth's moon. At 1,528 kilometers (949 miles) across, it is the second-largest moon orbiting Saturn. The image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow angle camera on Oct. 24, 2004, at a distance of about 1.7 million kilometers (1 million miles) from Rhea and at a Sun-Rhea-spacecraft, or phase, angle of 40 degrees. The image scale is approximately 10 kilometers (6 miles) per pixel. Cassini will image this hemisphere of Rhea again in mid-January 2005, just after the Huygens probe landing on Titan - with approximately 1-kilometer (0.6-mile) resolution. The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Cassini-Huygens mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras were designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The imaging team is based at the Space Science Institute, Boulder, Colo. For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission, visit http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov and the Cassini imaging team home page, http://ciclops.org . *Image Credit:* NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute |
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Rhea's Battered Surface
| Description |
Rhea's Battered Surface |
| Full Description |
This view of Saturn's second-largest moon, Rhea (1,528 kilometers, or 949 miles, across), shows some of the large craters that cover its surface. There is a bright feature near the moon's right limb, possibly a large, rayed crater or bright icy material exposed by internal processes. The image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow angle camera on Sept. 26, 2004, at a distance of 7.1 million kilometers (4.4 million miles) from Rhea and at a Sun-Rhea-spacecraft, or phase, angle of 75 degrees. The image scale is 43 kilometers (27 miles) per pixel. The image has been magnified by a factor of four and contrast-enhanced to aid visibility. The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Cassini-Huygens mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras were designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The imaging team is based at the Space Science Institute, Boulder, Colo. For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission, visit http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov and the Cassini imaging team home page, http://ciclops.org . *Image Credit:* NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute |
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Titan's Kiss
| Description |
350 N Canon Dr |
| Full Description |
Saturn's two largest moons meet in the sky in a rare embrace. Smog-enshrouded Titan (5,150 kilometers, or 3,200 miles across) glows to the left of airless Rhea (1,528 kilometers, or 949 miles across). The image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on June 11, 2006 at a distance of approximately 3.6 million kilometers (2.2 million miles) from Rhea and 5.3 million kilometers (3.3 million miles) from Titan. The Sun-Rhea-spacecraft, or phase, angle is 157 degrees on Rhea. Image scale is 22 kilometers (13 miles) per pixel on Rhea and 32 kilometers (20 miles) per pixel on Titan. The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras were designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The imaging operations center is based at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colo. For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov . The Cassini imaging team homepage is at http://ciclops.org . Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute |
| Date |
July 14, 2006 |
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Rhea Releases Enceladus
| Description |
Two slim crescents smile toward the Cassini spacecraft following an occultation event. |
| Full Description |
Two slim crescents smile toward the Cassini spacecraft following an occultation event. Taken only five minutes after Enceladus (505 kilometers, or 314 miles across) first approached the limb of Rhea (1,528 kilometers, or 949 miles across), this view shows the bright little moon emerging from behind the larger moon's crescent. (See Enceladus Approaches for the earlier view.) The image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on July 4, 2006 at a distance of approximately 1.4 million kilometers (800,000 miles) from Rhea and 1.9 million kilometers (1.2 million miles) from Enceladus. The view was obtained at a Sun-moon-spacecraft, or phase, angle of about 142 degrees relative to both moons. Image scale is 8 kilometers (5 miles) per pixel on Rhea and 11 kilometers (7 miles) on Enceladus. The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras were designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The imaging operations center is based at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colo. For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov . The Cassini imaging team homepage is at http://ciclops.org . *Credit:* NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute |
| Date |
August 7, 2006 |
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Rhea Occults Saturn
| Description |
Here on the Gallery page you can find the very latest images, videos and products from the Cassini-Huygens mission to Saturn, including the spectacular launch, spacecraft assembly and the exciting trip to Saturn. |
| Full Description |
The slim crescent of the moon Rhea glides silently onto the featureless, golden face of Saturn in this mesmerizing color movie. In an interplay of contrast and shadow, the moon goes dark against the planet, and then its crescent suddenly brightens as it slips in front of Saturn's night side. This view looks down onto the unlit side of Saturn's rings, which cast soft, linear shadows onto the planet's northern hemisphere. The movie was created using 60 images taken using red, green and blue spectral filters over a period of about 45 minutes. The images were acquired by the Cassini spacecraft wide-angle camera on March 21, 2006, at a distance of approximately 221,000 kilometers (137,000 miles) from Rhea. The image scale is approximately 13 kilometers (8 miles) per pixel. The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras were designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The imaging operations center is based at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colo. For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov. The Cassini imaging team homepage is at http://ciclops.org. Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute |
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The Silent Spheres
| Description |
Here on the Gallery page you can find the very latest images, videos and products from the Cassini-Huygens mission to Saturn, including the spectacular launch, spacecraft assembly and the exciting trip to Saturn. |
| Full Description |
In a silent orbital ballet, Saturn's crater-covered moon Rhea slips between the moons Mimas and Enceladus. The dark sides of Enceladus (bottom) and Mimas (top) are dimly illuminated by reflected light from Saturn. Rhea is 1,528 kilometers (949 miles) across, Mimas is 397 kilometers (247 miles) across, and Enceladus is 505 kilometers (314 miles) across. The movie was created using 59 clear-filter images taken over a period of about 40 minutes. The images were acquired by the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on Jan. 27, 2006, at a mean distance of approximately 3 million kilometers (1.9 million miles) from Rhea, 3.5 million kilometers (2.2 million miles) from Mimas, and 3.7 million kilometers (2.3 million miles) from Enceladus. The image scale is approximately 18 kilometers (11 miles) per pixel on Rhea, 21 kilometers (13 miles) per pixel on Mimas, and 22 kilometers (14 miles) per pixel on Enceladus. The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras were designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The imaging operations center is based at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colo. For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov. The Cassini imaging team homepage is at http://ciclops.org. Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute |
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Mottled Rhea
| Description |
Mottled Rhea |
| Full Description |
Impact-battered Rhea exhibits a mottled appearance in this Cassini spacecraft image. On an ancient surface such as this, large impact basins are often peppered with many smaller craters. The image shows principally the trailing hemisphere of this icy moon, Saturn¿s second largest. Rhea's diameter is 1,528 kilometers (949 miles) across. The image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow angle camera on Dec. 9, 2004, at a distance of 2.3 million kilometers (1.4 million miles) from Rhea and at a Sun-Rhea-spacecraft, or phase, angle of 60 degrees. The image scale is about 14 kilometers (9 miles) per pixel. The image has been magnified by a factor of two and contrast enhanced to aid visibility. The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras were designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The imaging team is based at the Space Science Institute, Boulder, Colo. For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov . For images visit the Cassini imaging team home page http://ciclops.org . *Credit*: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute |
| Date |
January 10, 2005 |
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Fresh Crater?
| Description |
Fresh Crater? |
| Full Description |
Rhea has been heavily bombarded by impacts during its history. In this Cassini image the moon displays what may be a relatively fresh, bright, rayed crater near Rhea's eastern limb. Rhea is 1,528 kilometers (949 miles) across. This view is centered on the side of Rhea that faces away from Saturn as the moon orbits. The image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow angle camera on Nov. 10, 2004, at a distance of 3.6 million kilometers (2.2 million miles) from Rhea and at a Sun-Rhea-spacecraft, or phase, angle of 86 degrees. North is up. The image scale is 21 kilometers (13 miles) per pixel. The image has been magnified by a factor of two and contrast enhanced to aid visibility of surface features. The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras were designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The imaging team is based at the Space Science Institute, Boulder, Colo. For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission, visit http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov and the Cassini imaging team home page, http://ciclops.org . *Credit*: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute |
| Date |
January 4, 2005 |
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Rhea's Ancient Surface
| Description |
Rhea's Ancient Surface |
| Full Description |
The sunlight angle in this sharp view of Saturn's second-largest moon, Rhea, highlights the moon's crater-strewn surface. Cassini will fly past Rhea on Nov. 26, 2005, at a distance of only 500 kilometers (311 miles) and will obtain very high resolution images at that time. Rhea's diameter is 1,528 kilometers (949 miles). This view shows mainly the hemisphere of Rhea that faces away from Saturn. The image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow angle camera on Nov. 1, 2004, at a distance of 1.6 million kilometers (994,000 miles) from Rhea and at a Sun-Rhea-spacecraft, or phase, angle of 102 degrees. North is up. The image scale is about 10 kilometers (6 miles) per pixel. The image has been slightly contrast enhanced to aid visibility of surface features. The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras were designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The imaging team is based at the Space Science Institute, Boulder, Colo. For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission, visit http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov and the Cassini imaging team home page, http://ciclops.org . *Credit*: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute |
| Date |
January 6, 2005 |
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Resplendent Rhea
| Description |
Resplendent Rhea |
| Full Description |
Bright streaks adorn the face of densely cratered Rhea, Saturn's second largest moon. The lit terrain seen here is on the leading hemisphere of Rhea (1,528 kilometers, or 949 miles across). North is up and rotated five degrees to the right. The image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on Oct. 11, 2006 at a distance of approximately 756,000 kilometers (470,000 miles) from Rhea and at a Sun-Rhea-spacecraft, or phase, angle of 49 degrees. Image scale is 5 kilometers (3 miles) per pixel. The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras were designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The imaging operations center is based at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colo. For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov. The Cassini imaging team homepage is at http://ciclops.org. Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute |
| Date |
November 10, 2006 |
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Rhea in Natural Color
| Description |
Rhea in Natural Color |
| Full Description |
The trailing hemisphere of Saturn's moon Rhea seen here in natural color, displays bright, wispy terrain that is similar in appearance to that of Dione, another one of Saturn's moon. At this distance however, the exact nature of these wispy features remains tantalizingly out of the reach of Cassini's cameras. At this resolution, the wispy terrain on Rhea looks like a thin coating painted onto the moon's surface. Cassini images from December 2004 (see http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA06163) revealed that, when seen at moderate resolution, Dione's wispy terrain is comprised of many long, narrow and braided fractures. Images taken using red, green and blue spectral filters were combined to create this natural color view. The images were acquired with the Cassini spacecraft narrow angle camera on Jan. 16, 2005, at a distance of approximately 496,500 kilometers (308,600 miles) from Rhea and at a Sun-Rhea-spacecraft, or phase, angle of 35 degrees. Resolution in the original image was about 3 kilometers (2 miles) per pixel. The image has been rotated so that north on Rhea is up. Contrast was enhanced and the image was magnified by a factor of two to aid visibility. The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras were designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The imaging team is based at the Space Science Institute, Boulder, Colo. For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov . For images visit the Cassini imaging team home page http://ciclops.org . *Credit:* NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute |
| Date |
February 4, 2005 |
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Impact Central
| Description |
Impact Central |
| Full Description |
This view of the trailing hemisphere of Saturn's moon Rhea shows the region's bright wispy markings, but also shows off the moon's craters in great detail. Of particular interest to imaging scientists is the distribution and orientation of the many craters with polygonal rims. These are craters with rough, angular shapes, rather than smooth, circular ones. Rhea is 1,528 kilometers (949 miles) across. This image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow angle camera on Jan. 16, 2005, at a distance of approximately 500,000 kilometers (311,000 miles) from Rhea and at a Sun-Rhea-spacecraft, or phase, angle of 35 degrees. (PIA06578 is a true color version of this image.) Resolution in the original image was about 3 kilometers (2 miles) per pixel. The image has been rotated so that north on Rhea is up. Contrast was enhanced and the image was magnified by a factor of two to aid visibility. The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras were designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The imaging team is based at the Space Science Institute, Boulder, Colo. For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov . For images visit the Cassini imaging team home page http://ciclops.org . *Credit*: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute |
| Date |
February 1, 2005 |
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Map of Rhea - December 2006
| Description |
Map of Rhea - December 2006 |
| Full Description |
This global digital map of Saturn's moon Rhea was created using data taken during NASA's Cassini and Voyager spacecraft flybys. The map is an equidistant projection and has a scale of 700 meters (2,300 feet) per pixel. Equidistant projections preserve distances on a body, with some distortion of area and direction. The mean radius of Rhea used for projection of this map is 764 kilometers (475 miles). This map is an update to the version released in December 2005. See Map of Rhea - December 2005. The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras were designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The imaging operations center is based at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colo. For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov . The Cassini imaging team homepage is at http://ciclops.org . Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute |
| Date |
December 29, 2006 |
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Barren Pole
| Description |
Barren Pole |
| Full Description |
This view looks toward Rhea's north polar region, where icy fractures slither away toward the south. Lit terrain in this view is on the Saturn-facing hemisphere of Rhea (1,528 kilometers, or 949 miles across). The image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on Dec. 4, 2006 at a distance of approximately 773,000 kilometers (480,000 miles) from Rhea and at a Sun-Rhea-spacecraft, or phase, angle of 105 degrees. Image scale is 5 kilometers (3 miles) per pixel. The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras were designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The imaging operations center is based at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colo. For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov . The Cassini imaging team homepage is at http://ciclops.org . Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute |
| Date |
January 10, 2007 |
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Enceladus Transits Rhea
| Description |
Enceladus Transits Rhea |
| Full Description |
+View Video The bright crescent of Saturn's moon Enceladus slides past distant Rhea in this mutual event, or occultation, movie from Cassini. The movie was created from 40 original images taken over the course of about 20 minutes as the spacecraft's narrow angle camera remained pointed toward Enceladus. Additional frames were inserted between the 40 Cassini images to smooth the appearance of the moons' movement--a scheme called interpolation. As Enceladus (505 kilometers, or 314 miles across) approaches Rhea (1,528 kilometers, or 949 miles across), the shadow of Saturn can be seen, projected onto the unlit side of its incredible rings. The images were taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on March 2, 2006, at a distance of approximately 2.8 million kilometers (1.7 million miles) from Rhea and 2 million kilometers (1.2 million miles) from Enceladus. Image scale is 17 kilometers (11 miles) per pixel on Rhea and 12 kilometers (7 miles) per pixel on Enceladus. The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras were designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The imaging operations center is based at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colo. For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov . The Cassini imaging team homepage is at http://ciclops.org . Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute |
| Date |
December 29, 2006 |
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Color Across Rhea
| Description |
Side-by-side natural color and false-color views highlight the wispy terrain on Rhea's trailing hemisphere. |
| Full Description |
Side-by-side natural color and false-color views highlight the wispy terrain on Rhea's trailing hemisphere. The extreme false color image makes it clear that the wisps -- likely networks of fractures as on Dione -- cut across older, cratered terrain. In addition, a set of thin, north-south trending lineaments (also likely fractures) is visible on the left side of both views. The natural color view was created by compositing images taken using red, green and blue spectral filters. To create the false-color view, ultraviolet, green and infrared images were combined into a single picture that isolates and maps regional color differences. This "color map" was then superimposed over a clear-filter image that preserves the relative brightness across the body. The combination of color map and brightness image shows how colors vary across the surface of Rhea. The origin of the color differences is not yet understood, but may be caused by subtle differences in the surface composition or the sizes of grains making up the icy surface material. North on Rhea (1,528 kilometers, or 949 miles across) is up. The images were taken with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on Jan. 17, 2007 at a distance of approximately 597,000 kilometers (371,000 miles) from Rhea. Image scale is 4 kilometers (2 miles) per pixel. The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras were designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The imaging operations center is based at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colo. For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov . The Cassini imaging team homepage is at http://ciclops.org . Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute |
| Date |
February 16, 2007 |
|
Drawing Out Details
| Description |
Rhea displays a marked color contrast from north to south that is particularly easy to see in the extreme color-enhanced Cassini spacecraft view presented here. |
| Full Description |
Rhea displays a marked color contrast from north to south that is particularly easy to see in the extreme color-enhanced Cassini spacecraft view presented here. A clear filter image is also presented (left) alongside the color composite (right). To create the false-color view, ultraviolet, green and infrared images were combined into a single picture that isolates and maps regional color differences. This "color map" was then superimposed over a clear-filter image that preserves the relative brightness across the body. The combination of color map and brightness image shows how colors vary across the surface of Rhea. The origin of the color differences is not yet understood, but may be caused by subtle differences in the surface composition or the sizes of grains making up the icy surface material. This view looks toward the trailing hemisphere on Rhea (1,528 kilometers, or 949 miles across). The view shows southerly latitudes on Rhea, down to the south pole. North is up and rotated 17 degrees to the right. The image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on Jan. 17, 2007 at a distance of approximately 457,000 kilometers (284,000 miles) from Rhea. Image scale is 3 kilometers (2 miles) per pixel. The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras were designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The imaging operations center is based at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colo. For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov . The Cassini imaging team homepage is at http://ciclops.org . Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute |
| Date |
February 26, 2007 |
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Rhea's Scars
| Description |
Rhea's Scars |
| Full Description |
The Cassini spacecraft examines the desolate, cratered crescent of Rhea, a surface so heavily bombarded over the eons that new craters are virtually guaranteed to form on top of older ones. The large Tirawa impact basin is visible here. This view looks toward the leading hemisphere on Rhea (1,528 kilometers, or 949 miles across). North is up. The image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on Feb. 26, 2007 at a distance of approximately 1.7 million kilometers (1 million miles) from Rhea and at a Sun-Rhea-spacecraft, or phase, angle of 106 degrees. Image scale is 10 kilometers (6 miles) per pixel. The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras were designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The imaging operations center is based at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colo. For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov . The Cassini imaging team homepage is at http://ciclops.org . Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute |
| Date |
April 3, 2007 |
|
Crossing Saturn
| Description |
Crossing Saturn |
| Full Description |
Rhea brushes the stormy face of Saturn, an airless ice orb against the feathery bands of a gas giant. Saturn's unilluminated rings are seen at upper right. Rhea is the second largest of Saturn's moons at 1,528 kilometers (949 miles) across. This view looks toward the unlit side of the rings from about 3 degrees above the ringplane. The image was taken in wavelengths of polarized infrared light with the Cassini spacecraft wide-angle camera on Feb. 4, 2007. Cassini acquired the view at a distance of approximately 1.2 million kilometers (700,000 miles) from Saturn and 679,000 kilometers (422,000 miles) from Rhea. Image scale is 137 kilometers (85 miles) per pixel on Saturn and about 80 kilometers (50 miles) per pixel on Rhea. The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras were designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The imaging operations center is based at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colo. For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov . The Cassini imaging team homepage is at http://ciclops.org . Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute |
| Date |
April 13, 2007 |
|
Rhea's Bright Wisps
| Description |
Rhea's Bright Wisps |
| Full Description |
Wispy markings reach out across Rhea's surface from its trailing hemisphere. The bright markings appear to be fractures, like those found on Dione. This view looks toward the northern hemisphere on Rhea's trailing side. North on Rhea (1,528 kilometers, or 949 miles across) is up and rotated about 40 degrees to the right. The image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on May 1, 2007 at a distance of approximately 1.9 million kilometers (1.2 million miles) from Rhea and at a Sun-Rhea-spacecraft, or phase, angle of 54 degrees. Image scale is 11 kilometers (7 miles) per pixel. The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras were designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The imaging operations center is based at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colo. For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov . The Cassini imaging team homepage is at http://ciclops.org . Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute |
| Date |
June 14, 2007 |
|
Accustomed to Her Face
| Description |
Accustomed to Her Face |
| Full Description |
After nearly three years at Saturn, the Cassini spacecraft continues to observe the planet's retinue of icy moons, seeing exciting details with every orbit. Rhea's cratered face attests to its great age, while its bright wisps hint at tectonic activity in the past. This view looks toward the moon's Saturn-facing hemisphere. North on Rhea (1,528 kilometers, or 949 miles across) is up and rotated about 8 degrees to the right. The image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on May 11, 2007. The view was acquired at a distance of approximately 879,000 kilometers (546,000 miles) from Rhea and at a Sun-Rhea-spacecraft, or phase, angle of 43 degrees. Image scale is 5 kilometers (3 miles) per pixel. The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras were designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The imaging operations center is based at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colo. For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov . The Cassini imaging team homepage is at http://ciclops.org . Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute |
| Date |
June 26, 2007 |
|
Rhea in Saturnshine
| Description |
Rhea in Saturnshine |
| Full Description |
The night side of Rhea shines softly in reflected light from Saturn. A similar effect, called Earthshine, can often be seen dimly illuminating the dark side Earth's moon. Background stars make short, dim trails across the black sky. The sunlit terrain on Rhea is so much brighter than the part lit by Saturn that the former is completely overexposed in this view, which took more than 30 seconds to acquire. This view looks toward the leading hemisphere on Rhea (1,528 kilometers, or 949 miles across). North is up and rotated 28 degrees to the left. The image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on June 11, 2007. The view was obtained at a distance of approximately 364,000 kilometers (226,000 miles) from Rhea and at a Sun-Rhea-spacecraft, or phase, angle of 154 degrees. Image scale is 4 kilometers (3 miles) per pixel. The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras were designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The imaging operations center is based at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colo. For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov . The Cassini imaging team homepage is at http://ciclops.org . Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute |
| Date |
July 18, 2007 |
|
Tirawa on the Terminator
| Description |
Tirawa on the Terminator |
| Full Description |
Rhea sports an immense impact scar on its leading hemisphere, like several other major Saturnian moons. The impact basin, seen above center on the day-night dividing line, or terminator, is named Tirawa, and is about 360 kilometers (220 miles) across. North on Rhea (1,528 kilometers, or 949 miles across) is up. The image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on June 1, 2007. The view was acquired at a distance of approximately 1.6 million kilometers (1 million miles) from Rhea and at a Sun-Rhea-spacecraft, or phase, angle of 55 degrees. Image scale is 10 kilometers (6 miles) per pixel. The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras were designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The imaging operations center is based at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colo. For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov . The Cassini imaging team homepage is at http://ciclops.org . Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute |
| Date |
July 4, 2007 |
|
On Opposing Sides
| Description |
On Opposing Sides |
| Full Description |
Two moons regard each other across a vast distance in this view from the Cassini spacecraft. Mimas (397 kilometers, or 247 miles across, at bottom) is easily identified by its prominent crater, Herschel. Rhea (1,528 kilometers, or 949 miles across) sits beyond the rings, appearing almost to rest upon them. This view was obtained from a perspective nearly edge-on with the ringplane. The image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on July 6, 2007 at a distance of approximately 2.6 million kilometers (1.6 million miles) from Mimas and 3.2 million kilometers (2 million miles) from Rhea. Image scale is 15 kilometers (9 miles) per pixel on Mimas and 19 kilometers (12 miles) per pixel on Rhea. The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras were designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The imaging operations center is based at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colo. For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov . The Cassini imaging team homepage is at http://ciclops.org . Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute |
| Date |
August 24, 2007 |
|
Spellbinding Saturn
| Description |
Spellbinding Saturn |
| Full Description |
As enchanting as it is scientifically intriguing, Saturn is a world of unparalleled beauty and limitless potential for learning. Rhea (1,528 kilometers, or 949 miles across, at right) and Enceladus (505 kilometers, or 314 miles across, at left) float across the field of view as bright clouds roll through the gas giant's skies. The rings cast dark shadows onto the planet's mid-northern latitudes. This view looks toward Saturn from edge-on with the ringplane. The image was taken using a combination of spectral filters sensitive to wavelengths of polarized infrared light. The view was obtained with the Cassini spacecraft wide-angle camera on July 8, 2007 at a distance of approximately 2.9 million kilometers (1.8 million miles) from Saturn. Image scale is 168 kilometers (104 miles) per pixel. The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras were designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The imaging operations center is based at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colo. For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov . The Cassini imaging team homepage is at http://ciclops.org . Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute |
| Date |
August 14, 2007 |
|
Darkside Lights
| Description |
Two small portions of Saturn's F ring shine brilliantly in scattered sunlight as Rhea floats in the distance beyond. |
| Full Description |
Two small portions of Saturn's F ring shine brilliantly in scattered sunlight as Rhea floats in the distance beyond. Rhea is 1,528 kilometers (949 miles) across. This view looks toward the unilluminated side of the rings from less than a degree above the ringplane. The image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft wide-angle camera on July 20, 2007. The view was obtained at a distance of approximately 915,000 kilometers (569,000 miles) from Rhea and at a Sun-Saturn-spacecraft, or phase, angle of 151 degrees. Image scale is 5 kilometers (3 miles) per pixel. The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras were designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The imaging operations center is based at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colo. For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov . The Cassini imaging team homepage is at http://ciclops.org . Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute |
| Date |
August 27, 2007 |
|
A Defining Feature
| Description |
A Defining Feature |
| Full Description |
Bright, wispy markings cover the trailing hemisphere of Rhea. The features are thought to be similar in nature to the bright, icy canyons seen on Dione (see Dione's Surprise). North on Rhea (1,528 kilometers, 949 miles across) is up and rotated 17 degrees to the left. The image was taken in visible green light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on July 22, 2007. The view was acquired at a distance of approximately 1.2 million kilometers (700,000 miles) from Rhea and at a Sun-Rhea-spacecraft, or phase, angle of 42 degrees. Image scale is 7 kilometers (4 miles) per pixel. The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras were designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The imaging operations center is based at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colo. For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov . The Cassini imaging team homepage is at http://ciclops.org . Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute |
| Date |
September 11, 2007 |
|
Craters in Relief
| Description |
Craters in Relief |
| Full Description |
Large and medium-sized impact basins on Rhea's trailing hemisphere are thrown into sharp relief by the grazing rays of the Sun. Bright, wispy features reach across the surface from the east. This view shows roughly the same region as the color view Rhea in Natural Color. North on Rhea (1,528 kilometers, or 949 miles across) is up and rotated 12 degrees to the left. The image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on July 21, 2007. The view was acquired at a distance of approximately 783,000 kilometers (487,000 miles) from Rhea and at a Sun-Rhea-spacecraft, or phase, angle of 76 degrees. Image scale is 5 kilometers (3 miles) per pixel. The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras were designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The imaging operations center is based at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colo. For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov . The Cassini imaging team homepage is at http://ciclops.org . Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute |
| Date |
September 3, 2007 |
|
Banded Giant
| Description |
Banded Giant |
| Full Description |
Rhea transits the banded clouds of the Ringed Planet. The edge-on rings cast curved shadows onto Saturn's northern hemisphere. More subtle than the ring shadows, the zonal jet streams of Saturn stripe its globe. Rhea is 1,528 kilometers (949 miles) across. Mimas (397 kilometers, or 247 miles across) sits on the far side of the ringplane, near right. The image was taken in visible blue light with the Cassini spacecraft wide-angle camera on Aug. 13, 2007. The view was acquired at a distance of approximately 4.1 million kilometers (2.5 million miles) from Saturn. Image scale is 240 kilometers (149 miles) per pixel. The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras were designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The imaging operations center is based at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colo. For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov . The Cassini imaging team homepage is at http://ciclops.org . Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute |
| Date |
October 2, 2007 |
|
Parade of Moons
| Description |
Parade of Moons |
| Full Description |
The Cassini spacecraft captures a gathering of three moons near the rings' outer edge as the icy worlds dutifully march about Saturn. Tethys (1,071 kilometers, or 665 miles across) hangs in front of Rhea (1,528 kilometers, or 949 miles across) near left. Pandora (84 kilometers, or 52 miles across) skirts the outer edge of the F ring below center. This view looks toward the unilluminated side of the rings from less than a degree above the ringplane. The image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on Aug. 2, 2007. The view was obtained at a distance of approximately 3.7 million kilometers (2.3 million miles) from Saturn. Image scale is about 22 kilometers (14 miles) per pixel. The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras were designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The imaging operations center is based at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colo. For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov . The Cassini imaging team homepage is at http://ciclops.org . Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute |
| Date |
September 21, 2007 |
|
Depth of Field
| Description |
Depth of Field |
| Full Description |
Cassini puts the enormous distances in the Saturn system in perspective with this view of Rhea and Prometheus. Rhea (1,528 kilometers, or 949 miles across) sits in the foreground, while Prometheus (102 kilometers, or 63 miles across) lingers barely visible near the rings about 400,000 kilometers (250,000 miles) beyond. Saturn's cloud tops are about 80,000 kilometers (50,000 miles) farther still. This view looks toward the unilluminated side of the rings from less than a degree above the ringplane. The image was taken with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on Aug. 13, 2007 using a spectral filter sensitive to wavelengths of infrared light centered at 750 nanometers. The view was acquired at a distance of approximately 4.1 million kilometers (2.5 million miles) from Saturn. Image scale is 24 kilometers (15 miles) per pixel on Saturn and 21 kilometers (13 miles) per pixel on Rhea. The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras were designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The imaging operations center is based at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colo. For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov . The Cassini imaging team homepage is at http://ciclops.org . Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute |
| Date |
September 28, 2007 |
|
Shadowing Saturn
| Description |
Like a silvery pearl, an icy moon crosses the face of Saturn, while two of its siblings cast shadows onto the planet. |
| Full Description |
Like a silvery pearl, an icy moon crosses the face of Saturn, while two of its siblings cast shadows onto the planet. Rhea (1,528 kilometers, or 949 miles across) hangs in the foreground. Near upper left on Saturn is the small shadow of Mimas. Near lower right is the penumbral shadow of Iapetus -- the part of the moon's shadow where Iapetus does not completely block the sun. This view looks toward the unilluminated side of the rings from less than a degree above the ringplane. The rings' shadows drape across the northern hemisphere. Images taken using red, green and blue spectral filters were combined to create this natural color view. The images were obtained with the Cassini spacecraft wide-angle camera on June 15, 2007, at a distance of approximately 1.2 million kilometers (744,000 miles) from Rhea and 1.7 million kilometers (1.1 million miles) from Saturn. Image scale is 71 kilometers (44 miles) per pixel on Rhea and 103 kilometers (64 miles) on Saturn. The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras were designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The imaging operations center is based at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colo. For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov . The Cassini imaging team homepage is at http://ciclops.org . Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute |
| Date |
October 15, 2007 |
|
The View from Iapetus
| Description |
While on final approach for its Sept. 2007 close encounter with Saturn's moon Iapetus, Cassini spun around to take in a sweeping view of the Saturn System. |
| Full Description |
While on final approach for its Sept. 2007 close encounter with Saturn's moon Iapetus, Cassini spun around to take in a sweeping view of the Saturn System. Iapetus (1,468 kilometers, or 912 miles across) is the only major moon of Saturn with a significant inclination to its orbit. From the other major satellites, the rings would appear nearly edge-on, but from Iapetus, the rings usually appear at a tilt, as seen here. This natural color mosaic consists of 15 red, green and blue spectral filter images acquired in five wide-angle camera footprints that swept across the scene. Moons visible in this image: Dione (1,126 kilometers, or 700 miles across) at center left, Enceladus (505 kilometers, or 314 miles across) near the left side ansa (or ring edge), Mimas (397 kilometers, or 247 miles across) a speck against the ring shadows on Saturn's western limb, Rhea (1,528 kilometers, or 949 miles across) against the bluish backdrop of the northern hemisphere, Tethys (1,071 kilometers, or 665 miles across) near the right ansa, and Titan (5,150 kilometers, or 3,200 miles across) near lower right. The images were obtained on Sept. 10, 2007, at a distance of approximately 3.3 million kilometers (2.1 million miles) from Saturn at a sun-Saturn-spacecraft, or phase, angle of 33 degrees. Image scale is about 195 kilometers (121 miles) per pixel on the planet. The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras were designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The imaging operations center is based at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colo. For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov . The Cassini imaging team homepage is at http://ciclops.org . Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute |
| Date |
October 15, 2007 |
|
Snapshot from Afar
| Description |
Snapshot from Afar |
| Full Description |
The Cassini spacecraft snapped this Saturn portrait from the distance of Iapetus, just before beginning its close encounter with the two-toned moon. Rhea (1,528 kilometers, or 949 miles across) is visible against the clouds of the northern hemisphere. Mimas (397 kilometers, or 247 miles across) stands out as a bright speck against the dark ring shadows, near center. Enceladus is not pictured here, although it casts its shadow upon the northern hemisphere, to the left of Rhea. This view looks toward the sunlit side of the rings from about 4 degrees below the ringplane. The rings disappear into the planet's shadow at right. The image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft wide-angle camera on Sept. 9, 2007. The view was obtained at a distance of approximately 3.3 million kilometers (2.1 million miles) from Saturn. Image scale is 195 kilometers (121 miles) per pixel on the planet. The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras were designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The imaging operations center is based at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colo. For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov . The Cassini imaging team homepage is at http://ciclops.org . Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute |
| Date |
October 19, 2007 |
|
Rhea's Pop-up Crater
| Description |
Rhea's surface gains some depth in this stereo image, or anaglyph, which features the bright and geologically young-looking rayed crater on the moon's leading hemisphere |
| Full Description |
Rhea's surface gains some depth in this stereo image, or anaglyph, which features the bright and geologically young-looking rayed crater on the moon's leading hemisphere. The view was created from images taken during Cassini's close encounter with Rhea (1,528 kilometers, or 949 miles across) on Aug. 30, 2007. The crater is 48 kilometers (30 miles) wide, and its rays extend several hundred kilometers outward. The rim of this crater is quite sharply defined, and there are few small craters overprinted onto it. These characteristics, along with the brightness of the crater and its rays are indicative of a feature formed relatively recently in geologic history. The hummocky floor of the crater possesses a central peak and clusters of small craters. The little craters may be secondary impact sites, formed by ejecta from the primary impact that landed in the crater, or they could have been formed by material that had broken off of the body that struck Rhea. For an even higher resolution view of this feature, see Catch That Crater. This stereo image is a mosaic consisting of seven Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera images. The view is an orthographic projection centered on 12 degrees south latitude, 112 degrees west longitude and has a resolution of 45 meters (148 feet) per pixel. An orthographic view is most like the view seen by a distant observer looking through a telescope. North is up. The clear filter images for this stereo image were taken from distances ranging from about 17,000 kilometers (10,600 miles, for the red-colored image) to 7,500 kilometers (4,700 miles, for the blue/green-colored image) from Rhea. The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras were designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The imaging operations center is based at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colo. For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov . The Cassini imaging team homepage is at http://ciclops.org . Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute |
| Date |
October 15, 2007 |
|
| Description |
This is a false color map of the intensity of the energetic neutral atoms emitted from the ring current through a processed called charged exchange. |
| Full Description |
Like Earth, Saturn has an invisible ring of energetic ions trapped in its magnetic field. This feature is known as a "ring current." This ring current has been imaged with a special camera on Cassini sensitive to energetic neutral atoms. This is a false color map of the intensity of the energetic neutral atoms emitted from the ring current through a processed called charged exchange. In this process a trapped energetic ion steals and electron from cold gas atoms and becomes neutral and escapes the magnetic field. The Cassini Magnetospheric Imaging Instrument's ion and neutral camera records the intensity of the escaping particles, which provides a map of the ring current. In this image, the colors represent the intensity of the neutral emission, which is a reflection of the trapped ions. This "ring" is much farther from Saturn (roughly five times farther) then Saturn's famous icy rings. Red in the image represents the higher intensity of the particles, while blue is less intense. Saturn's ring current had not been mapped before on a global scale, only "snippets" or areas were mapped previously but not in this detail. This instrument allows scientists to produce movies (See PIA10083) that show how this ring changes over time. These movies reveal a dynamic system, which is usually not as uniform as depicted in this image. The ring current is doughnut shaped but in some instances it appears as if someone took a bite out of it. This image was obtained on March 19, 2007, at a latitude of about 54.5 degrees and radial distance 1.5 million kilometres (920,000 miles). Saturn is at the center, and the dotted circles represent the orbits of the moon's Rhea and Titan. The Z axis points parallel to Saturn's spin axis, the X axis points roughly sunward in the sun¿spin axis plane, and the Y axis completes the system, pointing roughly toward dusk. The ion and neutral camera's field of view is marked by the white line and accounts for the cut-off of the image on the left. The image is an average of the activity over a (roughly) 3-hour period. The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter was designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The magnetospheric imaging instrument was designed, built and is operated by an international team lead by the Applied Physics Laboratory of the Johns Hopkins University, Laurel, Md. For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission, visit http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov and the instrument team's home page, http://sd-www.jhuapl.edu/CASSINI/index.html. Credit: NASA/JPL/APL |
| Date |
December 12, 2007 |
|
Obscure Moon
| Description |
Obscure Moon |
| Full Description |
Just before Rhea slipped behind Saturn, the Cassini spacecraft captured the moon in its disappearing act. Along with the partly obscured Rhea (1,528 kilometers, or 949 miles across) are Tethys (1,071 kilometers, or 665 miles across), at right, and Enceladus (505 kilometers, or 314 miles across), left of Tethys. At the wavelength in which this image was taken, absorption of sunlight by methane gas in Saturn's atmosphere is strong, causing the planet to appear darker than at other wavelengths. This view looks toward the unilluminated side of the rings from about 4 degrees above the ringplane. The image was taken with the Cassini spacecraft wide-angle camera on Nov. 9, 2007 using a spectral filter sensitive to wavelengths of infrared light centered at 890 nanometers. The view was acquired at a distance of approximately 2.8 million kilometers (1.7 million miles) from Saturn and at a Sun-Saturn-spacecraft, or phase, angle of 44 degrees. Image scale is 162 kilometers (101 miles) per pixel. The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras were designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The imaging operations center is based at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colo. For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov . The Cassini imaging team homepage is at http://ciclops.org . Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute |
| Date |
December 21, 2007 |
|
Saturn Methane Image
| Description |
Here on the Gallery page you can find the very latest images, videos and products from the Cassini-Huygens mission to Saturn, including the spectacular launch, spacecraft assembly and the exciting trip to Saturn. |
| Full Description |
The Cassini narrow angle camera took this image of Saturn on Feb. 16, 2004, from a distance of 66.1 million kilometers (41.1 million miles) in a special filter which reveals clouds and haze high in the atmosphere. The image scale is 397 kilometers (247 miles) per pixel. The MT2 spectral filter samples a near-infrared region of the electromagnetic spectrum where methane gas absorbs light at a wavelength of 727 nanometers. In the image, methane gas is uniformly mixed with hydrogen, the main gas in Saturn's atmosphere. Dark locales are places of strong methane absorption, relatively free of high clouds, the bright areas are places with high, thick clouds which shield the methane below. Image details reveal a high, thick equatorial cloud and a relatively deep or thin haze encircling the pole, as well as several distinct latitude bands with different cloud height attributes. It also shows a high atmospheric disturbance, just south of the equator, which has persisted throughout the 1990s in images returned by NASA¿s Hubble Space Telescope. Four of Saturn's moons are visible (clockwise from above right): Enceladus (499 kilometers, or 310 miles across), Mimas (396 kilometers, or 245 miles across), Tethys (1,060 kilometers, or 659 miles across), and Rhea (1,528 kilometers, or 949 miles across). The imaging team enhanced the brightness of Mimas and Enceladus by a factor of three. The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Cassini mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. The imaging team is based at the Space Science Institute, Boulder, Colo. For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit, http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov and the Cassini imaging team home page, http://ciclops.org . Image Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute |
|
Blue Saturn
| Description |
Here on the Gallery page you can find the very latest images, videos and products from the Cassini-Huygens mission to Saturn, including the spectacular launch, spacecraft assembly and the exciting trip to Saturn. |
| Full Description |
Bands and spots in Saturn's atmosphere, including a dark band south of the equator with a scalloped border, are visible in this image from the Cassini-Huygens spacecraft. The narrow-angle camera took the image in blue light on Feb. 29, 2004. The distance to Saturn was 59.9 million kilometers (37.2 million miles). The image scale is 359 kilometers (223 miles) per pixel. Three of Saturn's moons are seen in the image: Enceladus (499 kilometers, or 310 miles across) at left, Mimas (398 kilometers, or 247 miles across) left of Saturn's south pole, and Rhea (1,528 kilometers, or 949 miles across) at lower right. The imaging team enhanced the brightness of the moons to aid visibility. The BL1 broadband spectral filter (centered at 451 nanometers) allows Cassini to "see" light in a part of the spectrum visible as the color blue to human eyes. Scientist can combine images made with this filter with those taken with red and green filters to create full-color composites. In this image, everything on the planet is a cloud, and the contrast between bright and dark features is determined by the different blue-light absorbing properties of the particles that comprise the clouds. White regions contain material reflecting in the blue, dark regions contain material absorbing in the blue. This reflecting/absorbing behavior is controlled by the composition of the cloud's colored material, which is still a mystery -- one which may be answered by Cassini. The differing concentrations of this material across the planet are responsible for its banded appearance in the visible region of the electromagnetic spectrum. The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Cassini-Huygens mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. The imaging team is based at the Space Science Institute, Boulder, Colo. For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit, http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov and the Cassini imaging team home page, http://ciclops.org . Image Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute |
|
Family Portrait
| Description |
Here on the Gallery page you can find the very latest images, videos and products from the Cassini-Huygens mission to Saturn, including the spectacular launch, spacecraft assembly and the exciting trip to Saturn. |
| Full Description |
A stately Saturn poses for a portrait with five of its moons in this Cassini spacecraft wide angle camera view. Satellites visible in this image are (clockwise from upper left): Dione (1,118 kilometers or 695 miles wide), Enceladus (499 kilometers or 310 miles wide), Tethys (1,060 kilometers or 659 miles wide), Mimas (398 kilometers or 247 miles wide) and Rhea (1,528 kilometers or 949 miles wide). The image was taken in visible red light on Aug. 1, 2004, at a distance of 7.8 million kilometers (4.8 million miles) from Saturn. The image scale is 464 kilometers (288 miles) per pixel. The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Cassini-Huygens mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras were designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The imaging team is based at the Space Science Institute, Boulder, Colo. For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission, visit http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov and the Cassini imaging team home page, http://ciclops.org . Image Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute |
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False Color Look at Enceladu
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False Color Look at Enceladus |
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A fresh look at Saturn's moon Enceladus reveals tempting new details about the brightest real estate in the solar system. This false-color image shows that some of the linear features on Enceladus have a slightly different color from their surroundings. Different colors of ice may be caused by varying compositions or varying ice crystal sizes. Either of which can indicate different formation mechanisms or different ages. Enceladus is 505 kilometers (314 miles) across. The new view shows some of the smooth plains noted in NASA's Voyager spacecraft images and earlier Cassini images. At about the seven o'clock position are interwoven linear patterns that are reminiscent of the wispy-terrain features on two of Saturn's other moons, Dione and Rhea. Imaging scientists are not sure whether these brighter markings are evidence for contamination of the ice in the linear features by some other material. Analysis of high resolution images of Enceladus should also show whether, like the surprising terrain seen on Dione, the "wisps" are curvilinear fractures that are not quite resolved at this scale. This false color view combines images obtained using filters sensitive to ultraviolet, polarized green and infrared light. The images were obtained with the Cassini spacecraft narrow angle camera on Feb. 16, 2005, at distances ranging from 179,727 to 179,601 kilometers (111,677 to 111,599 miles) from Enceladus and at a Sun-Enceladus-spacecraft, or phase, angle of 22 degrees. Resolution in the image is about 1 kilometer (0.6 mile) per pixel. The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras were designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The imaging team is based at the Space Science Institute, Boulder, Colo. For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov . For images visit the Cassini imaging team home page http://ciclops.org . *Credit:* NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute |
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February 18, 2005 |
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Rhea's Crescent
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Rhea's Crescent |
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Two large craters lie along the boundary between day and night on Saturn's moon Rhea. The bright spots in the middle of each crater may be prominent central peaks. Rhea is 1,528 kilometers (949 miles) across. This view shows principally the trailing hemisphere on Rhea. The image has been rotated so that north on Rhea is up. The image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on Jan. 19, 2005, at a distance of approximately 1.9 million kilometers (1.2 million miles) from Rhea and at a Sun-Rhea-spacecraft, or phase, angle of 121 degrees. Resolution in the original image was 11 kilometers (7 miles) per pixel. The image has been contrast-enhanced and magnified by a factor of two to aid visibility. The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras were designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The imaging team is based at the Space Science Institute, Boulder, Colo. For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov . For additional images visit the Cassini imaging team homepage http://ciclops.org . *Credit:* NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute |
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March 7, 2005 |
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Fantastic Planet
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Fantastic Planet |
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Saturn's biggest and brightest moons are visible in this portrait by Cassini. Titan (5,150 kilometers, or 3,200 miles across) is Saturn's largest moon and appears at the lower left. Note that some details in the moon's smoggy atmosphere are visible here. Rhea (1,528 kilometers, or 949 miles across) is the planet's second largest moon and is seen above center. Enceladus (505 kilometers, or 314 miles across) has the brightest surface in the solar system, reflecting nearly all of the sunlight that falls upon it. Enceladus is just above the rings, right of center. Titan was on the far side of the planet at the time of this exposure, while the other moons were on the near side, much closer to Cassini. Also seen here are details in the cloud bands of Saturn's mostly hydrogen atmosphere, variations in brightness across the dazzling rings and magnificent ring shadows cast upon the northern hemisphere. The image was taken with the Cassini spacecraft wide-angle camera on Feb. 5, 2005, at a distance of approximately 3.4 million kilometers (2.1 million miles) from Saturn through a filter sensitive to wavelengths of infrared light centered at 728 nanometers. The image scale is 200 kilometers (124 miles) per pixel. The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras were designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The imaging team is based at the Space Science Institute, Boulder, Colo. For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov . For additional images visit the Cassini imaging team homepage http://ciclops.org . *Credit:* NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute |
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March 14, 2005 |
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Color on Rhea?
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Color on Rhea? |
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This false-color picture of Saturn's moon Rhea from Cassini enhances slight differences in natural color across the moon's face. The extreme north and south latitudes have a notable difference in hue compared to the mid-latitudes. This view of Rhea is a composite of images taken using filters sensitive to green (centered at 568 nanometers) and infrared light (two infrared filters, centered at 752 and 930 nanometers) and has been processed to accentuate subtle color differences. The image was taken with the Cassini spacecraft narrow angle-camera on Feb. 18, 2005, at a distance of approximately 890,000 kilometers (553,000 miles) from Rhea and at a Sun-Rhea-spacecraft, or phase, angle of 116 degrees. The image scale is 5 kilometers (3 miles) per pixel. The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras were designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The imaging team is based at the Space Science Institute, Boulder, Colo. For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov . For additional images visit the Cassini imaging team homepage http://ciclops.org . *Credit:* NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute |
| Date |
March 21, 2005 |
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Dark Patch
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Dark Patch |
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The ancient and battered surface of Saturn's moon Rhea shows a notable dark swath of territory near the eastern limb in this image from Cassini. This view shows principally the Saturn-facing hemisphere on Rhea (1,528 kilometers, or 949 miles across). North is up and tilted 40 degrees to the right. The image was taken with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on March 7, 2005, through a filter sensitive to wavelengths of ultraviolet light centered at 338 nanometers. The view was acquired at a distance of approximately 1.8 million kilometers (1.1 million miles) from Rhea and at a Sun-Rhea-spacecraft, or phase, angle of 30 degrees. Resolution in the original image was 10 kilometers (7 miles) per pixel. The image has been contrast-enhanced and magnified by a factor of two to aid visibility. The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras were designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The imaging team is based at the Space Science Institute, Boulder, Colo. For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov . For additional images visit the Cassini imaging team homepage http://ciclops.org . *Credit:* NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute |
| Date |
April 19, 2005 |
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Rhea's Relief
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Rhea's Relief |
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This Cassini image shows the cratered surface of Saturn's moon Rhea, with impact craters near the terminator thrown into sharp relief. Rhea is Saturn's second-largest moon, at 1,528 kilometers (949 miles across). This view shows the leading hemisphere on Rhea. North is up and tilted 23 degrees to the left. The image was taken with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on March 12, 2005, through a filter sensitive to wavelengths of ultraviolet light centered at 338 nanometers. The view was obtained at a distance of approximately 1.5 million kilometers (950,000 miles) from Rhea and at a Sun-Rhea-spacecraft, or phase, angle of 70 degrees. Resolution in the image is 9 kilometers (6 miles) per pixel. The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras were designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The imaging team is based at the Space Science Institute, Boulder, Colo. For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov . For additional images visit the Cassini imaging team homepage http://ciclops.org . Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute |
| Date |
April 27, 2005 |
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Amazing Icy Moons
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Amazing Icy Moons |
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A scene straight out of science fiction, this fantastic view shows, from left to right, Saturn's moon's Mimas, Dione and Rhea, on the far side of Saturn's nearly edge-on rings. The trailing hemispheres of all three moons are sunlit here, and wispy markings can be seen on the limbs of both Dione and Rhea. The diameter of Mimas is 397 kilometers (247 miles), Dione is 1,118 kilometers (695 miles) and Rhea is 1,528 kilometers (949 miles). The image was taken in visible blue light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on March 15, 2005, at a distance of approximately 2.4 million kilometers (1.5 million miles) from Saturn. The image scale is 14 kilometers (9 miles) per pixel. The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras were designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The imaging team is based at the Space Science Institute, Boulder, Colo. For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov . For additional images visit the Cassini imaging team homepage http://ciclops.org . *Credit:* NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute |
| Date |
May 5, 2005 |
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Big Basin
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Big Basin |
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The large Tirawa impact basin on Saturn's moon Rhea is visible at the two o'clock position in this Cassini image. Rhea is 1,528 kilometers (949 miles) across. This view shows principally the trailing hemisphere on Rhea, and is centered on the moon's equator. North is up and tilted 25 degrees to the left. The image was taken with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on March 13, 2005, through a filter sensitive to wavelengths of ultraviolet light centered at 338 nanometers. The image was obtained at a distance of approximately 1.7 million kilometers (1.1 million miles) from Rhea and at a Sun-Rhea-spacecraft, or phase, angle of 90 degrees. Resolution in the original image was 10 kilometers (6 miles) per pixel. The image has been contrast-enhanced and magnified by a factor of two to aid visibility. The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras were designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The imaging team is based at the Space Science Institute, Boulder, Colo. For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov . For additional images visit the Cassini imaging team homepage http://ciclops.org . *Credit:* NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute |
| Date |
May 4, 2005 |
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Great White Splat
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Looking closely at Saturns moon Rhea during a somewhat distant flyby |
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Looking closely at Saturn's moon Rhea during a somewhat distant flyby, Cassini provides this view of what appears to be a bright, rayed and therefore relatively young crater. This crater was also observed by Cassini at much lower resolution in the fall of 2004 and in spring of 2005. Rhea is 1,528 kilometers (949 miles) across. For comparison, viewing the same crater near the terminator (the line between day and night) would highlight the crater's topography (vertical relief), compared to its brightness, which is highlighted in this view where the Sun is at a higher angle. North on Rhea is up and rotated about 15 degrees to the left. This view shows principally the leading hemisphere on Rhea. The image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on April 14, 2005, at a distance of approximately 247,000 kilometers (153,000 miles) from Rhea and at a Sun-Rhea-spacecraft, or phase angle of 70 degrees. Resolution in the image is 1 kilometer (0.6 mile) per pixel. The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras were designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The imaging team is based at the Space Science Institute, Boulder, Colo. For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov . For additional images visit the Cassini imaging team homepage http://ciclops.org . Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute |
| Date |
May 13, 2005 |
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