chattanova
23-09-2007, 09:47 AM
Mysterious Black and White of Iapetus.
http://img33.picoodle.com/img/img33/9/9/23/f_SaturnIapetm_68688a7.jpg
NASA Cassini spacecraft's closest look so far at Saturn's
most mysterious and third moon, Iapetus, in the Cassini Regio region.
Diameter of image is 22 miles (35 kilometers).
NASA: “Iapetus is sometimes called the yin-yang moon because its leading hemisphere is very dark, reflecting about 5% of the Sun's light, while its trailing hemisphere is almost as bright as snow. This image spans about 35 kilometers across a cratered transition zone between bright and dark terrain. Iapetus itself has a density close to that of water ice, but the detailed reflective properties of the dark material suggest an organic composition,” which is still a mystery.
http://www.earthfiles.com/
http://img33.picoodle.com/img/img33/9/9/23/f_SaturnIapetm_68688a7.jpg
NASA Cassini spacecraft's closest look so far at Saturn's
most mysterious and third moon, Iapetus, in the Cassini Regio region.
Diameter of image is 22 miles (35 kilometers).
NASA: “Iapetus is sometimes called the yin-yang moon because its leading hemisphere is very dark, reflecting about 5% of the Sun's light, while its trailing hemisphere is almost as bright as snow. This image spans about 35 kilometers across a cratered transition zone between bright and dark terrain. Iapetus itself has a density close to that of water ice, but the detailed reflective properties of the dark material suggest an organic composition,” which is still a mystery.
http://www.earthfiles.com/