Saturn: the "Ringed Beauty" and His Moons
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Epimetheus-PIA07596.jpgEpimetheus in the darkness...53 visiteOriginal caption:"Small, multi-faceted Epimetheus wanders into Cassini's field of view, while Saturn's dark shadow cuts across the ringplane. Only a sliver of the outer A-Ring is seen here, including the narrow Keeler Gap. Epimetheus is a moon that is 116 kilometers (72 miles) across.
This view is from 10° out of the ringplane, gazing toward the lit face of the Rings.
The image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on Aug. 31, 2005, at a distance of approximately 2,1 MKM (such as about 1,3 MMs) from Epimetheus and at a Sun-Epimetheus-spacecraft, or phase, angle of 60°. Resolution in the original image was 13 Km (about 8 miles) per pixel".
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Epimetheus-PIA07680.jpgSinking in a Sea of Darkness...55 visiteThe Cassini spacecraft captured this glimpse of icy Epimetheus just before the small moon disappeared behind the bulk of Saturn's atmosphere.
The image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on Dec. 20, 2005, at a distance of approx. 2,3 MKM (about 1,4 MMs) from Epimetheus and 2,2 MKM (about 1,3 MMs) from Saturn. The image scale is roughly 14 Km (about 9 miles) per pixel on Epimetheus and approx. 13 Km (about 8 miles) per pixel on Saturn.
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Epimetheus-PIA08178.jpgThe "Runners"...again!53 visiteJanus and Epimetheus continue to separate, following their orbital swap in January 2006. Until 2010, Janus will remain the innermost of the pair, whose orbits around Saturn are separated by only about 50 Km (such as approx. 31 miles) on average.
Epimetheus appears just right of the bright A-Ring ansa, or edge, while Janus is seen near the upper right. The faint F-Ring extends across the image and Janus appears directly between its near and far edges.
The image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on April 16, 2006, at a distance of approx. 3,7 MKM (such as about 2,3 MMs) from Saturn. The image scale is approx. 22 Km (about 14 miles) per pixel on both Janus and Epimetheus.
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Epimetheus-PIA09813.jpgEpimetheus, from about 37.000 Km (enhanced - but natural - colors; credits: NASA)54 visiteCaption NASA:"The Cassini spacecraft's close flyby of Epimetheus in December 2007 returned detailed images of the moon's South Polar Region.
The view shows what might be the remains of a large impact crater covering most of this face, and which could be responsible for the somewhat flattened shape of the Southern part of Epimetheus (116 Km, or about 72 miles across) seen previously at much lower resolution.
The image also shows two terrain types: darker, smoother areas, and brighter, slightly more yellowish, fractured terrain. One interpretation of this image is that the darker material evidently moves down slopes, and probably has a lower ice content than the brighter material, which appears more like "bedrock". Nonetheless, materials in both terrains are likely to be rich in water ice. (...)".
MareKromium
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Epimetheus-PIA21335.jpgEpimetheus114 visitenessun commentoMareKromium
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Epimetheus.jpgEpimetheus, from approx. 87.000 Km53 visiteOriginal caption:"How did Epimetheus form? No one is yet sure. To help answer that question, this small moon has recently been imaged again in great detail by the robot spacecraft Cassini now orbiting Saturn. Epimetheus sometimes orbits Saturn in front of Janus, another small satellite, but sometimes behind. The above false-color image, taken during mid July, shows a surface covered with craters indicating great age. Epimetheus spans about 115 Km across. Epimetheus does not have enough surface gravity to restructure itself into a sphere".
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Epimetheus_and_Janus-EB-LXTT.gifBrothers & Runners: Epimetheus and Janus (a GIF-Movie by Elisabetta Bonora - Lunexit Team)54 visitenessun commentoMareKromium
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Epimetheus_and_Janus-EB.gifThe Runners...Again! (GIF-Movie; credits: Elisabetta Bonora)54 visitenessun commentoMareKromium
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Epimetheus_and_Telesto-N00152425-26-EB.jpgEpimetheus and Telesto (an Image-Mosaic by Elisabetta Bonora - Lunexit Team)58 visitenessun commentoMareKromium
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F-Enceladus-N00028770.jpgEnceladus from approx. 1.784.000 Km55 visiteUn'immagine davvero spettacolare di Encelado e (supponiamo...) Epimeteo, apparentemente "divisi" dagli Anelli di Saturno: una sorta di 'pentagramma spaziale" fatto di sottili filamenti luminosi i quali sembrano 'tagliare' il Cielo circostante.
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F-RING FROM VOYAGER-PIA02292_modest.jpgThe "F" Ring from Voyager 268 visitenessun commento
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Helene from Voyager 2.jpgHelene from Voyager 261 visiteAnche per "Helene" vale quanto detto per Epimetheus e le altre Lune Minori di Saturno: forme irregolari e dimensioni davvero modeste. Schegge (frammenti) di corpi più grandi i quali, oggi, ci rammentano catastrofi planetarie occorse in epoche remote, o dei semplici KBO, catturati da Saturno mentre si trovavano a passare nelle prossimità del Gigante Anellato?
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