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Iapetus is heavily cratered, and Cassini images have revealed large impact basins, at least five of which are over 350 km (220 mi) wide. The largest, Turgis , has a diameter of 580 km (360 mi); [24] its rim is extremely steep and includes a scarp about 15 km (9.3 mi) high. [25]
- 3.26 km/s
- Saturn
- 6700000 km²
The surface of Iapetus is heavily cratered, with large impact basins up to 580 kilometres across. Surface darkening on Iapetus comes from organic materials left behind as ice in the warmer Cassini Region region sublimates. The dark patches seem to be made of organic materials similar to those found in early meteorites or comets.
Jan 7, 2005 · Mission to Saturn. This view of Saturn's moon Iapetus captured by NASA's Cassini spacecraft shows how the dark, heavily cratered terrain of Cassini Regio transitions to a bright, icy terrain at high latitudes.
Iapetus Bright and Dark Terrains. Saturn's outermost large moon, Iapetus, has a bright, heavily cratered icy terrain and a dark terrain, as shown in this Voyager 2 image taken on August 22, 1981. Amazingly, the dark material covers precisely the side of Iapetus that leads in the direction of orbital motion around Saturn (except for the poles ...
Jun 4, 1998 · June 4, 1998. Saturn's outermost large moon, Iapetus, has a bright, heavily cratered icy terrain and a dark terrain, as shown in this Voyager 2 image taken on August 22, 1981. Amazingly, the dark material covers precisely the side of Iapetus that leads in the direction of orbital motion around Saturn (except for the poles), whereas the bright ...
Feb 25, 2005 · Iapetus's dark leading side (Cassini Regio) is ancient, heavily cratered terrain bisected by an equatorial ridge system that reaches 20 kilometers relief. Local albedo variations within and bordering Cassini Regio suggest mass wasting of ballistically deposited material, the origin of which remains unknown.
Jan 7, 2005 · January 7, 2005. On New Year's Eve 2004, Cassini flew past Saturn's intriguing moon Iapetus, capturing the four visible light images that were put together to form this global view. The scene is dominated by a dark, heavily-cratered region, called Cassini Regio, that covers nearly an entire hemisphere of Iapetus.
