Cassini Looks at Saturn’s Moon Dione

Dione as imaged by Cassini Credit: NASA

Dione as imaged by Cassini
Credit: NASA

With at least 53 confirmed Moons, it’s a little difficult to keep track of everything going on in Saturn’s system, but the amazing Cassini probe which has been on duty there since 2004 is still doing a remarkable job. Overshadowed by methane rich and surprisingly Earth-like Titan, and showy Enceladus, which is jetting ice crystals into space in a plume three higher than its diameter, Dione got a chance to shine this week.

In this image released by NASA,  and taken on September 10th, Dione reveals long geologic fault lines caused by fractures in its icy outer surface.  Dione is 698 miles in diameter, tidally locked to Saturn, and has two smaller moons, Helene and Polydeuces,  phase locked in its orbit, at 60 degrees ahead and behind respectively.

Posted in: Outer Planets

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