A
not-so-flawless side of Dione displays bright, wispy scratches in this image
from the Cassini spacecraft.
After the
Voyager flybys of the early 1980s, scientists pondered whether the Saturn moon's
streaks were bright material pushed up onto the surface by icy volcanic
activity. Now Cassini's close passes and sharper vision have revealed that the
features are a system of braided canyons – but scientists still suspect that Dione
may be volcanically
active.
Cassini
used a wide-angle camera to capture the image at a distance of 28,000 miles
(45,000 kilometers) from Dione. The Cassini-Huygens mission is a collaboration
between NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency.
– NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute and SPACE.com
Staff
Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science
Institute
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