APOD: 2015 July 8 In the Company of Dione
Explanation:
That is not our Moon.
It's
Dione,
and its a moon of Saturn.
The robotic
Cassini spacecraft
took the
featured image during a flyby of Saturn's cratered Moon last month.
Perhaps what makes
this image so interesting, though, is the background.
First, the large orb looming behind
Dione is Saturn itself,
faintly lit by sunlight first reflected from the rings.
Next, the thin lines running diagonally across the image are the
rings of Saturn themselves.
The millions of icy rocks that
compose Saturn's spectacular rings all orbit Saturn in
the same
plane, and so appear surprisingly thin when seen nearly edge-on.
Front and center,
Dione appears in
crescent phase, partially lit by the Sun that is off to the lower left.
A
careful inspection of the ring plane should also locate the moon
Enceladus on the upper right.
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
