NASA has spent a significant amount of time studying Saturn’s moons Titan and Enceladus, and while those are the two we most often hear about and see photos of, the planet has many more natural satellites that deserve our attention. It might be hard to believe, since Earth only has a single moon in its night sky, but Saturn has at least 62 moons. Many of them are quite small, but Dione is one of the larger ones. Showcasing a photo of Dione taken by the now-destroyed Cassini spacecraft, NASA explains what little we know about the frosty world.
The photo was originally taken way back in July of 2012, but it’s still a rather stunning glimpse at the far-off moon. According to NASA, the photo was taken when Cassini was at a distance of about 260,000 miles from its surface, which is close enough to reveal some of the most interesting details of its surface.
“Dione is about 698 miles (1,123 kilometers) across,” NASA explains. “Its density suggests that about a third of the moon is made up of a dense core (probably silicate rock) with the remainder of its material being water ice. At Dione’s average temperature of -304 degrees Fahrenheit (-186 degrees Celsius), ice is so hard it behaves like rock.” – READ MORE
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