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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.
Oct 5, 2021 · And based on the fact that there are no in-plane bodies farther out than Iapetus, it’s possible, although not favored, that this is in fact a captured body, like Neptune’s Triton, that ejected ...
- Ethan Siegel
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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
Apr 27, 2019 · Iapetus is heavily cratered, with the largest known crater being the 580 km wide Turgis Crater; which is 40% of the moon's diameter! The Voyager I and Voyager II encounters during 1980 and 1981 validated Cassini's original observations revealing a trailing hemisphere lighter in colour.
Jan 7, 2005 · 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.
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 ...
Jan 1, 2005 · This image reveals a heavily cratered surface and shows the boundary between Iapetus' bright trailing hemisphere and Cassini Regio -- a large, dark region that covers the leading hemisphere of the moon’s surface.
