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Saturn, Rings, and Two Moons
| Title |
Saturn, Rings, and Two Moons |
| Explanation |
This image of Saturn was made by NASA's robot spacecraft Voyager [ http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/voyager.html ] 2 as it began to explore the Saturn system in 1981. Saturn's famous rings are visible along with two of its moons, Rhea and Dione which appear as faint dots in the right and lower right part of the picture. Astronomers believe that Saturn's moons play a fundamental role in sculpting its elaborate ring system. For more information about the picture see the NASA, JPL press release. [ http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/photo_gallery/caption/saturn.txt ] |
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Iapetus: Saturn's Disappeari
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| Title |
Iapetus: Saturn's Disappearing Moon |
| Explanation |
Iapetus [ http://seds.lpl.arizona.edu/nineplanets/nineplanets/iapetus.html ] 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.arizona.edu/nineplanets/nineplanets/help.html#cassini ] to remark that Iapetus [ http://www.c3.lanl.gov/~cjhamil/SolarSystem/iapetus.html ] 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.nasa.gov/apod/ap950705.html ]'s moon behind Titan [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap950923.html ] and Rhea [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap951014.html ]. Iapetus is composed predominantly of water ice. |
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Rhea: Saturn's Second Larges
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| Title |
Rhea: Saturn's Second Largest Moon |
| Explanation |
Rhea [ http://seds.lpl.arizona.edu/nineplanets/nineplanets/rhea.html ] is the second largest moon of Saturn [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap950705.html ], behind Titan [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap950923.html ], and the largest without an atmosphere. It is composed mostly of water ice, but has a small rocky core. Rhea [ http://www.c3.lanl.gov/~cjhamil/SolarSystem/rhea.html ]'s rotation and orbit are locked together (just like Earth's Moon) so that one side always faces Saturn. A consequence of this is that one side always leads the other. Rhea's leading surface is much more heavily cratered than its trailing surface. The above photograph was taken with the Voyager 1 spacecraft in 1980. |
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Rhea: Saturn's Second Larges
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| Title |
Rhea: Saturn's Second Largest Moon |
| Explanation |
Rhea [ http://www.nineplanets.org/rhea.html ] is the second largest moon of Saturn [ http://pds.jpl.nasa.gov/planets/choices/saturn1.htm ], behind Titan [ http://www.nineplanets.org/titan.html ], and the largest without an atmosphere. It is composed mostly of water ice, but has a small rocky core. Rhea [ http://www.solarviews.com/eng/rhea.htm ]'s rotation and orbit are locked together (just like Earth's Moon [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap010218.html ]) so that one side always faces Saturn. A consequence of this is that one side always leads the other. Rhea's leading surface is much more heavily cratered than its trailing surface. The above photograph [ http://www.solarviews.com/cap/sat/rhea2.htm ] was taken with the Voyager 1 spacecraft [ http://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/spacecraft/index.html ] in 1980. NASA's Cassini spacecraft [ http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/spacecraft/ ] is currently on route to Saturn and will arrive in 2004. |
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Saturn, Rings, and Two Moons
| Title |
Saturn, Rings, and Two Moons |
| Explanation |
NASA's robot spacecraft Voyager [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap960629.html ] 2 made this image [ http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/photo_gallery/caption/saturn.txt ] of Saturn [ http://www.seds.org/nineplanets/nineplanets/saturn.html ] as it began to explore the Saturn system [ http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/cassini/Images/astro/23209.html ] in 1981. Saturn's famous rings [ http://ringside.arc.nasa.gov/www/saturn/saturn.html ] are visible along with two of its moons, Rhea [ http://bang.lanl.gov/solarsys/rhea.htm ] and Dione [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap951009.html ] which appear as faint dots on the right and lower right part of the picture. Astronomers believe that Saturn's moons play a fundamental role in sculpting its elaborate ring system [ http://newproducts.jpl.nasa.gov/saturn/back.html ]. A robot spacecraft named Cassini [ http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/cassini/ ] was launched [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap971016.html ] last October and is expected to rendezvous [ http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/cassini/Mission/tour.html ] with the giant gas planet in 2004. |
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Rhea: Saturn's Second Larges
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| Title |
Rhea: Saturn's Second Largest Moon |
| Explanation |
Rhea [ http://www.seds.org/nineplanets/nineplanets/rhea.html ] is the second largest moon of Saturn [ http://pds.jpl.nasa.gov/planets/welcome/saturn.htm ], behind Titan [ http://www.seds.org/nineplanets/nineplanets/titan.html ], and the largest without an atmosphere. It is composed mostly of water ice, but has a small rocky core. Rhea [ http://www.solarviews.com/eng/rhea.htm ]'s rotation and orbit are locked together (just like Earth's Moon [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap991108.html ]) so that one side always faces Saturn. A consequence of this is that one side always leads the other. Rhea [ http://cass.jsc.nasa.gov/pub/research/outerp/rhea.html ]'s leading surface is much more heavily cratered than its trailing surface. The above photograph [ http://www.solarviews.com/cap/sat/rhea2.htm ] was taken with the Voyager [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap960629.html ] 1 spacecraft in 1980. |
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