Cassini space probe spots a cheesy like moon
28 April 2005
by Richard Conan-Davies
| The NASA Cassini space probe around Saturn captured images of the moon... irregularly shaped and dotted with soft-edged craters. The many large, softened craters on Epimetheus indicate a surface that is several billion years old. Cassini was about 74,600 kilometers (46,350 miles) from Epimetheus when it took this snap shot. This moon shares an orbit with another of Saturn's small moons, Janus, the two dance in a planetary tango as they move in near identical orbits. They swap orbits every four years, instead of colliding. They both create intricate waves in Saturn's rings. yet have densities significantly lower than that of solid ice. It is thought that they may be "rubble piles" held together by gravity. |
 Moon is thought to be mainly made of ice based on analysis of it's reflected light.
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