The cratered face of Tethys

Here’s an amazing portrait of Tethys, a 662-mile-wide, airless and  heavily-cratered moon of Saturn.

The photo was taken by Cassini on October 14, 2009, with the moon fully lit by the sun. Its high reflectivity (albedo) indicate a large amount of ice in its composition.

I adjusted the image to bring out the details in Tethys’ terrain. The original image can be seen here.

The large crater Penelope is featured prominently in the center, but Tethys’ two major features – the giant 250-mile-wide Odysseus crater and the 1200-mile-long Ithaca Chasma – aren’t visible in this view.

Raw image: NASA/JPL/SSI