by bystander » Wed Feb 24, 2010 3:48 pm
PIA 12556: Oblate Iapetus
The oblate shape of the moon Iapetus is particularly noticeable in this portrait. The two-toned surface of the moon Iapetus also stands out against the darkness of space in this image.
PIA 11690: Global View of Iapetus' Dichotomy
These two global images of Iapetus show the extreme brightness dichotomy on the surface of this peculiar Saturnian moon. The left-hand panel shows the moon's leading hemisphere and the right-hand panel shows the moon's trailing side. While low and mid latitudes of the leading side exhibit a surface almost as dark as charcoal, broad tracts of the trailing side are almost as bright as snow. The dark terrain covers about 40 percent of the surface and is named Cassini Regio. The names of the bright terrain are Roncevaux Terra (north) and Saragossa Terra (south).
[url=http://ciclops.org/view.php?id=6087][img]http://ciclops.org/media/ir/2009/6087_14506_0.jpg[/img][size=150][b] PIA 12556: Oblate Iapetus[/b][/size][/url]
[quote]The oblate shape of the moon Iapetus is particularly noticeable in this portrait. The two-toned surface of the moon Iapetus also stands out against the darkness of space in this image.[/quote]
[url=http://ciclops.org/view.php?id=6028][img]http://ciclops.org/media/ir/2009/6028_14206_0.jpg[/img][size=150][b] PIA 11690: Global View of Iapetus' Dichotomy[/b][/size][/url]
[quote]These two global images of Iapetus show the extreme brightness dichotomy on the surface of this peculiar Saturnian moon. The left-hand panel shows the moon's leading hemisphere and the right-hand panel shows the moon's trailing side. While low and mid latitudes of the leading side exhibit a surface almost as dark as charcoal, broad tracts of the trailing side are almost as bright as snow. The dark terrain covers about 40 percent of the surface and is named Cassini Regio. The names of the bright terrain are Roncevaux Terra (north) and Saragossa Terra (south). [/quote]