Astronomy: Iapetus

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

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 formation, 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 continues to be an active area of research in modern astronomy. Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iapetus_(moon) (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)