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Rhea: Saturn's Second Largest Moon
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Rhea: Saturn's Second Largest Moon
Credit & Copyright: NASA, Voyager, Copyright Calvin J. Hamilton
Explanation: Rhea is the second largest moon of Saturn, behind Titan, and the largest without an atmosphere. It is composed mostly of water ice, but has a small rocky core. Rhea's rotation and orbit are locked together (just like Earth's Moon) so that one side always faces Saturn. A consequence of this is that one side always leads the other. Rhea's leading surface is much more heavily cratered than its trailing surface. The above photograph was taken with the Voyager 1 spacecraft in 1980.

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Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (USRA)
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Based on Astronomy Picture Of the Day

Publications with keywords: Saturn - Rhea
Publications with words: Saturn - Rhea
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