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Unusual eclipse....
Science & Exploration

Unusual eclipse of Saturn's moon Rhea by Dione

13/10/2005 1646 views 0 likes
ESA / Science & Exploration / Space Science / Cassini-Huygens

The NASA/ESA/ASI Cassini spacecraft successfully completed its only fly-by of Saturn's moon Dione on 11 October 2005. In the process, Cassini captured this image of Dione eclipsing Saturn's moon Rhea.

In the picture above, the distance between Dione and Rhea was roughly 330 000 kilometres. Dione is the second densest moon of Saturn, after Titan. It is probably composed of a rocky core making up one-third of the moon's mass, and the rest is composed of water ice. It is an icy body similar to Tethys and Rhea. Cassini will make a fly-by of Rhea on 26 November 2005.

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