Astronomy: Iapetus

Astronomy: Iapetus
Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA
Solar System
Iapetus Iapetus () is the outermost of Saturn's large moons. With an estimated diameter of 1,469 km (913 mi), it is the third-largest moon of Saturn and the eleventh-largest in the Solar System.

Commentary

Commentary

Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)
Iapetus Iapetus () is the outermost of Saturn's large moons. With an estimated diameter of 1,469 km (913 mi), it is the third-largest moon of Saturn and the eleventh-largest in the Solar System. Named after the Titan Iapetus from Greek mythology, the moon was discovered in 1671 by Giovanni Domenico Cassini.

Commentary

Source: Internal
Why Iapetus matters: Understanding our cosmic neighbourhood helps us learn about planetary format ion, the conditions for life, and ultimately our place in the universe. A relatively low-density body composed mostly of ice, Iapetus is home to several distinctive and unusual features, such as a striking difference in coloration between its dark leading hemisphere and its bright trailing hemisphere, as well as a massive equatorial ridge that runs three-quarters of the way around the moon.

Commentary

Source: Internal
Deep dive: Iapetus Iapetus conti nues to be an active area of research in modern astronomy. Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iapetus_(moon) (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)