High Resolution View of Dione
Date: 15 December 2004
Satellite: Cassini
Depicts: Dione
Copyright: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute
As it zoomed in on Saturn's moon Dione for a close flyby, the Cassini spacecraft captured a set of images of the icy moon that have been combined into a mosaic here to provide a stunningly detailed global view.
Five narrow angle frames comprise this view of the 'wispy terrain' on the anti-Saturn side of Dione. To the surprise of Cassini imaging scientists, the wispy terrain does not consist of thick ice deposits, but rather the bright ice cliffs created by tectonic fractures. The surface is also clearly very heavily cratered. The image scale is 0.9 kilometres per pixel; the phase angle is 34 degrees.
Last Update: 1 September 2019
