A Scene of Craters
NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute · Download full size image
October 8, 2007
This high-resolution view shows a vast range of crater sizes in the dark terrain of the leading hemisphere of Saturn's moon Iapetus.
Across the scene, a few small bright spots indicate fresh, rayed craters where impactors have punched through the thin blanket of dark material to the cleaner ice beneath.
The slight elevation on the bottom half of the image is part of the giant equatorial ridge that spans a wide fraction of Iapetus' circumference. The numerous craters on top of the ridge indicate that it is an old surface feature.
The mosaic consists of three image footprints across the surface of Iapetus. The view is centered on terrain near 0.5 degrees north latitude, 141.6 degrees west longitude. Image scale is approximately 22 meters (72 feet) per pixel. Illumination is from the left.
The clear spectral filter images in this mosaic were obtained with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on Sept. 10, 2007, at a distance of approximately 63,000 kilometers (39,000 miles) from Iapetus and at a sun-Iapetus-spacecraft, or phase, angle of about 125 degrees.
Iapetus is 1,468 kilometers (912 miles) across.
The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras were designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The imaging operations center is based at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colo. Posted on: 12 Nov, 2007
- Mariner 4 -- Mars
- Mariner 6 & 7 -- Mars
- Mariner 9 -- Mars
- Mariner 10 -- Mercury
- Viking to Mars
- Magellan to Venus
- Mars Pathfinder
- Deep Space 1
- Mars Climate Orbiter
- Mars Polar Lander
- Sputnik
- Explorer
- Vanguard
- Cassini/Huygens Mission
- Clementine Moon Mapping
- Galileo
- Genesis
- Giotto ESA
- Lunar Orbiter
- Lunar Prospector
- Mars Global Surveyor
- 2001 Mars Odyssey
- Mars 96 (Russian)
- NEAR
- Nozomi to Mars (JAPAN)
- Mars Phobos (Russian)
- Pioneer to Venus
- Pioneer 10
- Pioneer 11
- Ranger Lunar Mission
- Sakigake Comet Halley
- Suisei Comet Halley
- Surveyor Moon Mapping
- Ulysses
- Vega 1 (Russia)
- Vega 2 (Russia)
- Venera to Venus (Russian)
- Voyager
- Zond Soviet Lunar Missions
- Mars Exploration Rover - Spirit
- Mars Exploration Rover - Opportunity
- Mars Express
- Mars Rovers - Artwork
- Mars Rovers - Spacecraft
- Deep Impact
- Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter
- Stardust
- Venus Express
- STEREO (Solar TErrestrial RElations Observatory)
- Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (HiRISE)
- New Horizons
- STEREO (Solar TErrestrial RElations Observatory) 3-D Sun Images
- MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer)
- MESSENGER
- MODIS Image Of The Day Archive
- Phoenix Mars Lander
- Chandrayaan-1
- Kepler
- Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter
- Cassini-Huygens (ESA)
Latest Thoughts
-
Nov 28, 2009, 10:15 am
Teens Are Getting Hooked on Hookahs
-
Nov 28, 2009, 9:52 am
Cyberchondria: Diagnosing Health Problems By Web Surfing
-
Nov 28, 2009, 9:11 am
Swine Flu: Has It Reached Its Peak?
-
Nov 28, 2009, 8:02 am
A Blood Test Could Help Detect Heart Attacks
-
Nov 28, 2009, 6:53 am
Study: Women More Likely to Stay With Men After Cancer Diagnosis
-
Nov 28, 2009, 6:35 am
Obesity Could Be Linked to Multiple Sclerosis
- More Videos
RSS Feeds