CICLOPS: Cassini Imaging Central Laboratory for OPerationS
Rhea 'Rev 143' Raw Preview #4

Rhea 'Rev 143' Raw Preview #4
Avg Rating: 9.15/10

Full Size 1024:
JPEG 139 KB
   This raw, unprocessed image of Rhea was taken on January 11, 2011 and received on Earth January 12, 2011. The camera was pointing toward Rhea at approximately 955 kilometers away, and the image was taken using the CL1 and CL2 filters. The image has not been validated or calibrated. A validated/calibrated image will be archived with the Planetary Data System in 2012.

The Cassini Solstice Mission is a joint United States and European endeavor. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter was designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The imaging team consists of scientists from the US, England, France, and Germany. The imaging operations center and team lead (Dr. C. Porco) are based at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colo.

For more information about the Cassini Solstice Mission visit http://ciclops.org, http://www.nasa.gov/cassini and http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov.

Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute
Released: January 12, 2011
Image/Caption Information


Alliance Member Comments
bruno.thiery (Jan 22, 2011 at 3:07 AM):
"I think it's the same medium-sized deep crater that is in the middle of the image "Rhea 'Rev 143' Raw Preview '3" . ":
yes it is, see also the link for the Planetary Society website
http://www.planetary.org/blog/article/00002877/ (no trick under that hyperlink ;-)
There Emily Lakdawalla provides more comment on the photos, and eliminated some of the unwelcomed features in raw images.
Dragon_of_Luck_Mah_Jonng1971 (Jan 17, 2011 at 3:58 PM):
At my first glance at its small version I thought it were a view of a Rhean rift valley similar to a Dionean rift valley shown on "Dione "Rev 129" Flyby Raw Preview #3" labelled 04/08/2010 which shows a very interesting Dionean surface at very high resolution ( rotate the Dionean view by 180 degrees then it makes more sense. ) But at its full version I remarked rapidly that it's only a view of a Rhean crater looking somewhat like a rift valley at first glance because of foreshortening.
It's still interesting because it's showing a lot of details at the crater wall and it has got a very high resolution.

I think it's the same medium-sized deep crater that is in the middle of the image "Rhea 'Rev 143' Raw Preview '3" .
Mercury_3488 (Jan 14, 2011 at 7:31 PM):
Just to say some moronic spammer has hacked into our site with Viagra ads. Please do not click on the links I have provided until this is fixed.

I hope that I can contribute more here in the not too distant future.

Carolyn, could you remove the links I provided? I can replace them after the site is fixed.

But I will say, this Rhea pass so far looks 100% successful. The imagery is perfect & it will be interesting to see if Rhea has MASCONs, Cassini certainly passed close enough & will be interesting to see more about the 'exosphere' that Rhea posseses. The dead straight faults are fascinating.

Andrew.
Mercury_3488 (Jan 14, 2011 at 6:33 PM):
Some more stuff here, including some curious straight faults, dead straight almost. Clearly the crust of Rhea has been under some strain & wonder of related to the Tirawa Basin impact? Several straight faults two crossing over making a large X. Very strange. Clearly Rhea has been under some tectonic strain in the past. No evidence of cryovolcanism, but faulting, certainly yes. Wonder if extentional, after the ice crust froze quickly, the interior took longer causing the crust to crack.
http://www.space.com/common/forums/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=27654#p518168
stowaway (Jan 13, 2011 at 6:09 PM):
Ah yes, we are seeing it "upside down" so to speak. The harder edged delineating line is the nearer rim of the crater and the ink splotches near the bottom left of center are shadows being cast by features inside the crater. If you rotate the image 90 degrees counterclockwise it makes a lot more sense.
Mercury_3488 (Jan 13, 2011 at 3:42 PM):
Some more excellent stuff here. Carolyn will know much more.

Copy & paste links.

http://www.space.com/common/forums/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=914&start=340#p517763

http://www.space.com/common/forums/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=27654#p517919

Andrew Brown.
Mercury_3488 (Jan 13, 2011 at 3:00 PM):
Hi it's neither.

It is a highly foreshortened crater on Rhea, taken with the NAC near closest approach. Amazing imagery for sure. :) There appears to be some stiations on the crater wall, possibly icy rubble sliding to the floor of the crater which is out of view.

Andrew.
stowaway (Jan 13, 2011 at 1:44 PM):
The description says this is an image of Saturn? It appears the diagonal slash is a portion which has been "stretched" to give the illusion of looking straight down on this area. Either that or the picture was taken with the Escher-cam.
ultomatt (Jan 13, 2011 at 12:44 PM):
Is this the rings shadow on the surface of Rhea?