The Satellites of Saturn

Saturn is among the most visually interesting of all the planets in the solar system. It's large rings are very distinctive, and are visible through even small telescopes. In addition to rings, Saturn is surrounded by more than eighteen satellites. Several of these are very large. One of it's moons, Titan is the size of a small planet, 2,575 km in radius. This is larger than either Pluto or Mercury. It is large enough that it even maintains an atmosphere! Another notable moon is Mimas, which bears a striking resemblance to the Death Star from Star Wars.

In order to access a photograph of a particular satellite just click on the name from the table below. Each link is a different picture - they vary in quality, depending on the camera and the distance from the satellite. All of these images come from the Voyager probe fly-bys of these moons; in many cases, the pictures listed below are the only ones we have.

MoonImageImageImageImage
Enceladus Color image, low resolution Enceladus Enceladus  
Mimas Back Side Mimas    
Tethys Tethys Tethys Tethys
 
Dione Dione Trailing hemisphere Dione
 
Rhea Color enhanced Rhea Closest approach Rhea
Iapetus Iapetus Iapetus
   
Earth's Moon Earth's Moon      

Procedure
Pick one satellite of Saturn and answer the following questions about it.

  1. Describe the surface. Note the amount of cratering, unusual terrain, coloring, etc. Is it uniform? Does it appear the same in all pictures?

  2. Is the surface young or old compared to the surface of the Moon? Explain your reasoning.

  3. Based on the physical characteristics of your satellite (see data table), what is the composition of the satellite? How do the data support this?

  4. Compare your satellite to the Earth's Moon. If the Moon had the albedo of the satellite you chose, what would it look like in the sky? How would it compare in brightness to the Sun?

  5. Based on the composition of your satellite, what would happen to it if you placed it in the position of the Earth's Moon?

  6. By looking at their images, place the following satellites in order from most recently active (1 = youngest) to least recently active (3 = oldest):
    Dione__________ Rhea_____________ Enceladus_____________

  7. Look at the composite image of Saturn's small satellites. Would you expect to see geologic activity on these satellites? Explain. Why aren't they spherical?