Dione’s Close-up

02Feb06

Just released by the Cassini team:

Dione: Magnified View
Image Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute

This close-up of Dione’s icy surface shows deeply shadowed craters near the terminator, as well as a group of roughly linear faults above center.

The terrain shown here is on the moon’s leading hemisphere. North on Dione (1,126 kilometers, or 700 miles across) is up and tilted 21 degrees to the right.

The image was taken in visible green light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on Dec. 24, 2005 at a distance of approximately 152,000 kilometers (94,000 miles) from Dione and at a Sun-Dione-spacecraft, or phase, angle of 109 degrees. Resolution in the original image was 904 meters (2,965 feet) per pixel. The image has been magnified by a factor of two and contrast-enhanced to aid visibility.

With the passage of time, I’ve really become increasingly enthralled by Saturn’s icy satellites. I’d love to be an interplanetary fly on the wall to see exactly what these moons have experienced in their past. Their surface features are most captivating.

Also see:

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Filed under: Astronomy, Saturn   |  

3 Responses to “Dione’s Close-up”  

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  1. 1 Sanketh on Feb 2nd, 2006 said:

    Great picture and good information.
    You have a lovely blog design.
    Thanks,
    http://teletunes.blogspot.com
    http://messagingblues.blogspot.com

  2. 2 Wolverine on Feb 2nd, 2006 said:

    Thanks, glad you enjoy.

  1. 1 Wolverine’s Den » Blog Archive » Tethys

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