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…
Tag: Tethys
A Cratered Crescent Composition
The crescent of Saturn’s moon Tethys hovers serenely over a dimly-lit ringplane in this raw image, taken by the Cassini orbiter on October 11, 2009. Frigid, airless and heavily-cratered, Tethys is mostly composed of water ice and rock. It is 662 miles wide. Image: NASA/JPL/SSI
The Eye of Odysseus
This is Tethys, a 662-mile-wide moon of Saturn captured by Cassini’s cameras in this raw image from May 14. Dominating its face is the huge Odysseus Crater, its rim gleaming in the sunlight. Much of Tethys is estimated to be water ice, due to its density and high albedo (reflectivity). That Tethys was able…
Lights in the Dark 