‘Hi-Res’ on Tethys

an extreme closeup of Tethys' surface
September 29, 2005
PIA NumberPIA07736
Language
  • english

This view is among the closest Cassini images of Tethys' icy surface taken during the Sept. 24, 2005 flyby.

This image is a clear-filter view and is the highest resolution image acquired by Cassini during the encounter. The two large craters at the right show evidence that landslides have modified their outlines and covered their floors with large quantities of debris. Linear depressions cutting across the terrain probably mark the surface expressions of faults or fractures. For a false-color image see 'Hi-Res' on Tethys False Color.

This view is centered on terrain at approximately 4.2 degrees south latitude and 357 degrees west longitude on Tethys. The image has been rotated so that north on Tethys is up.

The view was obtained using the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera at a distance of approximately 19,000 kilometers (11,800 miles) from Tethys and at a Sun-Tethys-spacecraft, or phase, angle of 17 degrees. Image scale is 110 meters (360 feet) per pixel.

The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. 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 and its two onboard cameras were designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The imaging operations center is based at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colo.

For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov . The Cassini imaging team homepage is at http://ciclops.org .

Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute