A trio of Saturnian moons

NASA / JPL-Caltech / Space Science Institute Press Release

23 February 2016 Astronomy Now

Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute.
Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute.
Three of Saturn’s moons — Tethys, Enceladus and Mimas — are captured in this group photo from NASA’s Cassini spacecraft.

Tethys (660 miles or 1,062 kilometres across) appears above the rings, while Enceladus (313 miles or 504 kilometres across) sits just below centre. Mimas (246 miles or 396 kilometres across) hangs below and to the left of Enceladus.

This view looks toward the sunlit side of the rings from about 0.4 degrees above the ring plane. The image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on 3 December 2015.

The view was acquired at a distance of approximately 837,000 miles (1.35 million kilometres) from Enceladus, with an image scale of 5 miles (8 kilometres) per pixel. Tethys was approximately 1.2 million miles (1.9 million kilometres) away with an image scale of 7 miles (11 kilometres) per pixel. Mimas was approximately 1.1 million miles (1.7 million kilometres) away with an image scale of 6 miles (10 kilometres) per pixel.

Saturn: Exploring the Ringed Planet

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20151028-Saturn-Special-Preview-with-Enceladus

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