Cassini Relays Latest Image of Saturn's Unique 'Black-and-White' Moon (PHOTO)

© AP Photo / NASA/JPL-CaltechThis image made available by NASA in April 2017 shows a still from the short film "Cassini's Grand Finale," with the spacecraft diving between Saturn and the planet's innermost ring
This image made available by NASA in April 2017 shows a still from the short film Cassini's Grand Finale, with the spacecraft diving between Saturn and the planet's innermost ring - Sputnik International
Subscribe
As NASA’s Cassini probe continues its final mission, the Grand Finale, the spacecraft managed to obtain unique images of Saturn’s unusual moon Iapetus.

Iapetus, named after the eponymous titan from the Greek mythology, is one of Saturn’s more unusual moons, locked in synchronous rotation about the planet.

The moon also possesses a rather unique appearance as its leading hemisphere is dark while the trailing hemisphere and the poles are bright.

© NASA . JPL-Caltech/Space Science InstituteIapetus
Iapetus - Sputnik International
Iapetus

The photo, snapped by Cassini’s narrow-angle camera at a distance of about 1.6 million miles and with image scale of 9 miles per pixel, was made on March 11 and depicts the moon’s Saturn-facing hemisphere.

Cassini, named for the Italian astronomer who discovered four of Saturn's moons (including Iapetus) in the 17th century, launched in 1997 and in 2004 became the first human spacecraft to enter Saturn's orbit.

Newsfeed
0
To participate in the discussion
log in or register
loader
Chats
Заголовок открываемого материала