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New colour maps of Saturn's icy moons
Bjorn Jonsson
post Nov 9 2014, 09:31 PM
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Here is a small (512x256 pixels per satellite) montage of the maps for anyone interested in comparing them globally. The order from the top is by distance from Saturn.

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Explorer1
post Nov 10 2014, 01:26 AM
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Strange how Enceladus pops out in that montage pretty quick; its the only one without a trailing/leading hemisphere dichotomy. Or maybe not strange at all, given the geysers!
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tanjent
post Nov 10 2014, 02:54 AM
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Ok Explorer1, now that you mention it, I thought I understood the reasons for Iapetus' dark leading hemisphere.
It sweeps up some kind of slower-moving particulate matter
But until now I had never noticed that for Tethys, Rhea and Dione, the other satellites with dark/light contrasts, the trailing hemisphere is a little bit darker.
Is this because the particulates move faster than the moons, in these tighter orbits?
Maybe this hints at some kind of tidal influence, associated with Titan?
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Explorer1
post Nov 10 2014, 05:45 AM
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I read a while back that the main theory is that Iapetus sweeps up material falling in from Phoebe (the stuff making up its ring). The particles that miss are scooped up in turn by Hyperion and especially Titan, so the inner moons must have a different source for their markings. I wouldn't rule out Titan for anything...
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Gsnorgathon
post Nov 10 2014, 05:48 AM
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I thought the basic idea was that Saturn's magnetosphere swept up charged particles and deposited them on the moons' trailing hemispheres, since Saturn rotates more quickly than the moons orbit.
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DrShank
post Nov 10 2014, 12:17 PM
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QUOTE (Gsnorgathon @ Nov 9 2014, 11:48 PM) *
I thought the basic idea was that Saturn's magnetosphere swept up charged particles and deposited them on the moons' trailing hemispheres, since Saturn rotates more quickly than the moons orbit.



this is essentially correct tho we still don't know the mechanism that darkens things (alteration vs implantation?). meanwhile, the front sides are all getting plastered by E-ring dust from Enceladus (except Mimas, where it is the backside being hit. Iapetus doesn't get any of those as it is too far out, and "far out". I have an article in 2011 in Icarus that discusses all the color effects in some detail but also they are described in my blog, from about the same time. http://stereomoons.blogspot.com/2010/10/co...-published.html There are several other posts on these topics too.

You guys are also giving me ideas and I'm working on some comparative charts for these bodes for the blog . . .


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