A Visual Tour of the Moons of Saturn

The varied moons of Saturn, compiled with the latest imagery from the Cassini mission to Saturn and displayed with PanglossTech's free Saturn Add-on for NASA World Wind. Full-globe surface maps are rendered using spectacular, high resolution NASA photomosaics. Prominent craters are labeled for reference and orientation.

The terrain of the moons ranges from heavily cratered bodies, such as Mimas, to the complex folded geology of Enceladus. The dramatic bright and dark hemispheres of Iapetus can be seen, as well as the large mountain ranges along the equator.

The newly explored meteorology of the largest moon Titan is depicted. Titan is the only moon in the solar system that is known to have an atmosphere. Hydrocarbon clouds are concentrated in the polar region experiencing winter. Winds blow eastward in the equatorial latitudes imaged by Cassini.

The general physical layout of the Saturnian system is also illustrated, along with the relative sizes of the moons, to provide a framework for understanding the family of the great ringed planet.

The free PanglossTech Saturn Add-on for NASA World Wind is available at:

http://www.panglosstech.com/saturn.html

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• Saturn
• Dione
• Enceladus
• Iapetus
• Mimas
• Phoebe
• Rhea
• Tethys
• Titan
• Cassini
• NASA
• World
• Wind

[DrMackSplackem]

@rickythepitbull Gravity ensures that massive bodies of irregular shape collapse down towards their centers of mass. The more massive the object, the stronger the gravitational pull towards its center, and thus the more spherical the object's shape.

[TheAwp45]

@rickythepitbull

Asteroids knock the jagged edges off.

[rickythepitbull]

I wonder why every planet is so round...is there a reason? Why arent there any jagged or square shaped planets..any idea? Its not like theres any wind or water in space to smooth em out right?

[utopianwebsurfer]

Cool but where's the spoken narration?

C-ya utopian websurfer