Latest Rhea Stories
Lee Rannals for redOrbit.com – Your Universe Online NASA's Cassini spacecraft has unveiled new data about how Saturn's moons and rings are like an antique shop. Gianrico Filacchione, a Cassini participating scientist at Italy's National Institute for Astrophysics, Rome, published a paper online in The Astrophysical Journal about how Saturn's moons and rings are gently worn, vintage goods from around the time of our solar system's birth. He suggests these bodies date back more than...
Shortly after passing Enceladus, Cassini had a non-targeted encounter of Dione. At closest approach, the spacecraft flew within about 5,000 miles (8,000 kilometers) of the moon. Cassini's cameras captured several mosaics during this encounter, including one taken around the time of closest approach that covered a fracture named Latium Chasma at resolutions of about 175 feet (53 meters) per pixel. Other mosaics cover much of Dione's northern hemisphere that faces away from Saturn in its orbit,...
This raw, unprocessed image of Saturn's second largest moon, Rhea, was taken on March 10, 2012, by NASA's Cassini spacecraft. This was a relatively distant flyby with a close-approach distance of 26,000 miles (42,000 kilometers), well suited for global geologic mapping. During the flyby, Cassini captured distinctive views of the moon's cratered surface, creating a 30-frame mosaic of Rhea's leading hemisphere and the side of the moon that faces away from Saturn. The observations included...
In an action-packed day and a half, NASA's Cassini spacecraft will be making its closest swoop over the surface of Saturn's moon Dione and scrutinizing the atmosphere of Titan, Saturn's largest moon. The closest approach to Dione, about 61 miles (99 kilometers) above the surface, will take place at about 1:39 a.m. PST (4:39 a.m. EST) on Dec. 12. One of the questions Cassini scientists will be asking during this flyby is whether Dione's surface shows any signs of activity. Understanding...
Raw images obtained by NASA's Cassini spacecraft from the closest flyby of Saturn's moon Rhea have begun streaming to Cassini's raw image page.At closest approach, Cassini glided within about 69 kilometers (43 miles) of Rhea's surface at 4:53 AM UTC on Jan. 11, which was 10:53 PM Pacific Time on Jan. 10.To see the raw images, go to http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/photos/raw/ and click on "Search Images."---Image Caption: NASA's Cassini spacecraft captured this raw image of Saturn's icy...
Saturn's icy moon Rhea might seem a strange place to look for clues to understanding the vast majestic rings encircling Saturn. But that's what NASA's Cassini spacecraft plans to do on its next flyby of Rhea. At closest approach, Cassini will pass within about 69 kilometers (43 miles) of the surface at 4:53 AM UTC on Tuesday, Jan. 11, which is 10:53 PM Pacific Time on Monday, Jan. 10. This flyby is the closest Cassini will get to the icy moon's surface.Rhea, Saturn's second largest moon, is...
Newly released for the holidays, images of Saturn's second largest moon Rhea obtained by NASA's Cassini spacecraft show dramatic views of fractures cutting through craters on the moon's surface, revealing a history of tectonic rumbling. The images are among the highest-resolution views ever obtained of Rhea.The images, captured on flybys on Nov. 21, 2009 and March 2, 2010, can be found at http://www.nasa.gov/cassini, http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov and http://ciclops.org . "These recent,...
NASA's Cassini spacecraft will be making its close flyby of the northern hemisphere of Saturn's moon Enceladus today, Monday, Dec. 20. The closest approach will take place at 5:08 PM PST (8:08 EST) on Dec. 20, or 1:08 AM UTC on Dec. 21. The spacecraft will zip by at an altitude of about 48 kilometers (30 miles) above the icy moon's surface.Cassini's fields and particles instruments will get priority during this flyby. They will be trying to characterize the particles that may form a tenuous...
A NASA probe has discovered oxygen in the atmosphere of one of Saturn's moons, discovering the element alongside carbon dioxide in the thing exosphere of the icy satellite known as Rhea.According to the UK newspaper The Guardian, instruments onboard the Cassini probe were able to acquire samples of both elements in March, when it passed within 100km of Saturn's second largest moon.The results reveal that there is an extremely thin layer of oxygen and carbon dioxide in Rhea's atmosphere, and...
Taking a long-weekend road trip, NASA's Cassini spacecraft successfully glided near nine Saturnian moons, sending back a stream of raw images as mementos of its adrenaline-fueled expedition. The spacecraft sent back particularly intriguing images of the moons Dione and Rhea.The Dione and Rhea pictures are the highest-resolution views yet of parts of their surfaces. The views of the southern part of Dione's leading hemisphere (the part of the moon that faces forward in its orbit around Saturn)...
Latest Rhea Reference Libraries
The Rhea is a large flightless bird native to South America. American Rheas live in grassland, savanna, scrub forest, chaparral, and even desert, but prefer areas with at least some tall vegetation. Darwin's Rhea lives in areas of open scrub in the grasslands of Patagonia and on the Andean plateau. It is classified as endangered throughout its range. The Common Rhea, Rhea americana, is not only the largest species of rhea, but also the largest bird in the Americas. Adults weigh up to 66...
The Ostrich, Struthio camelus, is a flightless bird native to Africa. It is the only living species of its family, Struthionidae. Ostriches occur naturally on the savannas and Sahel of Africa, both north and south of the equatorial forest zone. Other members of this group include rheas, emus, cassowaries and the largest bird ever, the now-extinct Aepyornis. Six subspecies are recognized: S.c. australis in Southern Africa S.c. camelus in North Africa. S.c. massaicus in East Africa. S.c....
Draco (dragon or serpent) Constellation -- Location: Northern Hemisphere; Coordinates: Right Ascension: 17h; Declination: +65; Source: Creation and dragon myths from Greek, Roman, eastern Mediterranean, Middle East, Indian and Norse cultures Two circumstances lie behind the multitude of myths associated with Draco. First, due to the precession of the Earth, Draco's star Thuban was the pole star approximately 4000 years ago. It would have seemed to ancient sky watchers that the Earth...
Saturn's moon Rhea -- Rhea is the second largest moon of Saturn. It was discovered in 1672 by Giovanni Cassini. Rhea is an icy body with a density of about 1.24 gm/cm3. This low density indicates that it has a rocky core taking up less than one-third of the moon's mass with the rest composed of water-ice. Rhea's features resemble those of Dione, with dissimilar leading and trailing hemispheres, suggesting similar composition and histories. The temperature on Rhea is -174°C in direct...
Saturn's moon Tethys -- Tethys is a moon of Saturn that was discovered by Giovanni Cassini in 1684. Tethys is an icy body similar in nature to Dione and Rhea. The density of Tethys is 1.21 g/cm3, indicating that it is composed almost entirely of water-ice. Tethys's surface is heavily cratered and contains numerous cracks caused by faults in the ice. There are two different types of terrain found on Tethys, one composed of densely cratered regions and the other consisting of a dark...
