Tuesday, August 2, 2016

Rhea(lly) beautiful - Saturn's moon

 

The Cassini spacecraft, currently hanging out in Saturn's neighborhood, has sent back stunning images of the planet's second largest moon, Rhea.  Discovered December 23, 1672 by Giovanni Cassini, Rhea is named after the Titan Rhea, mother of the gods in 1846 by John Herschel (son of William Herschel).

The dazzling image above was taken June 3 and is a result of the water ice that covers most of the surface.

Rhea is 949 miles in diameter and the most heavily cratered of all of Saturn's moons.   In 2010, NASA discovered a thin atmosphere consisting of oxygen and carbon dioxide.



Rhea's horizon.


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