BA: A marvelous night for a (Saturn) moon dance

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BA: A marvelous night for a (Saturn) moon dance

Post by bystander » Thu Feb 11, 2010 1:25 am

A marvelous night for a (Saturn) moon dance
Bad Astronomy: 2010 Feb 10

Image
CICLOPS: PIA 12538 (2010 Jan 29): Enceladus Meets Rhea
That’s the moon Enceladus passing in front of (what we science-types call "transiting") Rhea. Enceladus is about 500 km (300 miles) across and Rhea is 3 times bigger. Rhea was about 2.7 million km (1.7 million miles) from Cassini when these shots were taken, and Enceladus a bit closer at 2.3 million km (1.4 million miles). Of course, by a bit closer I mean the same distance our Moon is from the Earth, so there was plenty of room for this mutual event.

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