Astronomy Picture of the Day

The Great Basin on Saturn's Tethys


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The Great Basin on Saturn's Tethys


Explanation:
Some moons wouldn't survive the collision.

Tethys, one of
Saturn's larger moons
at about 1000 kilometers in diameter, survived the collision, but sports today the expansive
impact crater Odysseus.

Sometimes called the Great Basin,
Odysseus
occurs on the leading hemisphere of
Tethys
and shows its great age by the relative amount of smaller craters that occur inside its
towering walls.

Another large crater,
Melanthius,
is visible near the moon's terminator.

The density of Tethys is similar to
water-ice.

The above digitally enhanced image was captured in July by the
robot Cassini spacecraft
in orbit around Saturn as it swooped past the giant ice ball.




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