Rhea: Saturns Second Largest Moon

Astronomy Picture of the Day · 1999-12-05 · NASA (public domain)

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Rhea: Saturns Second Largest Moon — APOD for 1999-12-05

Rhea is the second largest moon of Saturn , behind Titan , and the largest without an atmosphere. It is composed mostly of water ice, but has a small rocky core. Rhea 's rotation and orbit are locked together (just like Earth's Moon ) so that one side always faces Saturn. A consequence of this is that one side always leads the other. Rhea 's leading surface is much more heavily cratered than its trailing surface. The above photograph was taken with the Voyager 1 spacecraft in 1980.

Astronomy Picture of the Day for 1999-12-05 — image & explanation courtesy of NASA (public domain), mirrored at Tukuk-OS for reading and search convenience.

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