Saturn’s Moon Rhea Is A Camera Hog, But She’s Pretty So It Works.

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Check out Saturn’s moon Rhea in this picture. Stylin’, profilin’. Dominating the picture taking by Cassini, Rhea is hard to miss. This picture ain’t hers alone though, no sir. It’s a veritable gathering of Saturn’s family.

Bad Astronomy:

This shot shows Saturn’s rings nearly edge-on, but dominating the scene is Rhea, 1500 km (950 miles) in diameter, seen here 61,000 km (38,000 miles) distant. Below it is Dione, to the right and just above the rings is Epimetheus, and Tethys is all the way on the right, below the rings.

So what’s the fifth moon? Look to the right of Dione, right at the rings. See that tiny bump? That’s dinky Prometheus, all of 119 km (71 miles) along its longest dimension – it’s basically a spud orbiting Saturn. Prometheus, along with its sister moon Pandora, act like shepherds, keeping Saturn’s F-ring particles entrained.

Saturn is a weird, weird place, and it’s orbited by a diverse collection of weird, weird moons. I forget that sometimes, but images like this really drive it home.

A bunch of weird demented fellows held together by some unseen gravitational force. Saturn’s moons, meet my family.