Odysseus Crater on Tethys
Image Credit: Cassini Imaging Team, SSI, JPL, ESA, NASA
Explanation: Some moons wouldn't survive the collision.
Tethys, one of
Saturn's larger moons at about 1000 kilometers in diameter, survived the collision, but today exhibits the resulting expansive
impact crater Odysseus. Sometimes called the
Great Basin,
Odysseus occurs on the leading hemisphere of
Tethys and shows its great age by the relative amount of smaller craters that occur inside its
towering walls. The density of Tethys is similar to
water-ice. The
featured image was captured in November by the
robotic Cassini spacecraft in orbit around Saturn as it swooped past the giant ice ball. Cassini has now started on its
Grand Finale Tour which will take it inside Saturn's rings and
culminate in September with a dive into Saturn's thick atmosphere.
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