Astronomy Picture of the Day

Explanation: How did Epimetheus form? No one is yet sure. To help answer that question, this small moon has recently been imaged again in great detail by the robot spacecraft Cassini now orbiting Saturn. Epimetheus sometimes orbits Saturn in front of Janus, another small satellite, but sometimes behind. The above image, taken last December, shows a surface covered with craters indicating great age. Epimetheus spans about 115 kilometers across. Epimetheus does not have enough surface gravity to restructure itself into a sphere. The flattened face of Epimetheus shown above might have been created by a single large impact.

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Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (USRA)
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NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
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& Michigan Tech. U.

Publications with keywords: Saturn - cassini spacecraft
Publications with words: Saturn - cassini spacecraft
See also:

• Saturn and Titan from Cassini
• Saturn s Infrared Glow
• Saturn s Ancient Rings
• Crescent Saturn
• Bright Planets, Crescent Moon
• 4000 Kilometers Above Saturns Iapetus
• The Great Basin on Saturns Tethys

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