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Face Illusion in the Cosmic Clouds

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August 20, 2018

Tête-à-tête

August 20, 2018

Tête-à-tête

This image from NASA's Cassini spacecraft shows Saturn's moon Tethys disappearing behind Titan as observed by Cassini on Nov. 26, 2009. Tethys is about 660 miles (1,070 kilometers) across.
June 4, 2018

Mighty Odysseus

June 4, 2018

Mighty Odysseus

On Aug. 17, 2015, NASA's Cassini spacecraft captured this image of Odysseus crater with its ring of steep cliffs and the mountains that rise at its center, the most visually striking feature on Saturn's icy moon, Tethys.
May 14, 2018

A Stage for Shadows

May 14, 2018

A Stage for Shadows

Saturn's rings cast dark bands across cloud tops in the northern hemisphere. Near the pole, an elongated shadow can be seen from Saturn's moon Tethys. Icy moons Dione (front right) and Enceladus (back right) are also seen by NASA's Cassini spacecraft.
May 7, 2018

Postcard from the Ring Plane

May 7, 2018

Postcard from the Ring Plane

On March 13, 2006 Cassini's narrow-angle camera captured this look at Saturn and its rings, seen here nearly edge on. The frame also features Mimas and tiny Janus (above the rings), and Tethys (below the rings).
August 21, 2017

Saturn-lit Tethys

August 21, 2017

Saturn-lit Tethys

NASA's Cassini gazes across the icy rings of Saturn toward the icy moon Tethys, whose night side is illuminated by Saturnshine, or sunlight reflected by the planet.
April 24, 2017

Dark Chasm

April 24, 2017

Dark Chasm

NASA's Cassini spacecraft shows the low angle of the sun over Tethys' massive canyon, Ithaca Chasma (near the terminator, at right), highlights the contours of this enormous rift.
January 23, 2017

Here's Looking at You, Tethys

January 23, 2017

Here's Looking at You, Tethys

Tethys, one of Saturn's larger icy moons, vaguely resembles an eyeball staring off into space in this view from NASA's Cassini spacecraft. The resemblance is due to the enormous crater, Odysseus, and its complex of central peaks.
January 9, 2017

Mimas' Mountain

January 9, 2017

Mimas' Mountain

Shadows cast across Mimas' defining feature, Herschel Crater, provide an indication of the size of the crater's towering walls and central peak, as seen by NASA's Cassini spacecraft.
August 15, 2016

Distant Moons

August 15, 2016

Distant Moons

Saturn's moons Tethys and Hyperion appear to be near neighbors in this view from NASA's Cassini spacecraft, even though they are actually 930,000 miles apart here. Tethys is the larger body on the left.
July 11, 2016

Tethys Tops Saturn

July 11, 2016

Tethys Tops Saturn

An illusion of perspective, Saturn's moon Tethys seems to hang above the planet's north pole in this view from NASA's Cassini spacecraft.
March 7, 2016

The Saturnian Sisters

March 7, 2016

The Saturnian Sisters

he view from NASA's Cassini spacecraft looks toward the anti-Saturn sides of Tethys and Rhea. North on both moons is up. Rhea and Tethys are medium-sized moons that are large enough to have pulled themselves into round shapes.
February 29, 2016

Different Worlds

February 29, 2016

Different Worlds

Two of Saturn's moons, Tethys and the much smaller Janus, are captured in this photo from NASA's Cassini spacecraft.
February 22, 2016

Three Times the Fun

February 22, 2016

Three Times the Fun

Three of Saturn's moons, Tethys, Enceladus and Mimas, are captured in this group photo from NASA's Cassini spacecraft.
February 8, 2016

Ices and Shadows

February 8, 2016

Ices and Shadows

Saturn's moon Tethys appears to float between two sets of rings in this view from NASA's Cassini spacecraft, but it's just a trick of geometry. The rings, which are seen nearly edge-on, are the dark bands above Tethys.
January 18, 2016

Janus and Tethys

January 18, 2016

Janus and Tethys

Saturn's moons, like Janus, irregularly shaped bodies, and Tethys, spherically shaped, demonstrate the main difference between small moons and large ones. It's all about the moon's shape.
January 11, 2016

Saturn the Mighty

January 11, 2016

Saturn the Mighty

NASA's Cassini spacecraft captured Saturn, around 10 times the diameter of Earth, dwarfs it retinue of moons. Tethys is seen here at lower right.
December 14, 2015

Bull's-eye Moons

December 14, 2015

Bull's-eye Moons

Like a cosmic bull's-eye, Enceladus and Tethys line up almost perfectly for NASA's Cassini. Since they are also at relatively similar distances from the spacecraft, their apparent sizes in this image are a good approximation of their relative sizes.
December 7, 2015

Crescent Tethys and Rings

December 7, 2015

Crescent Tethys and Rings

Tethys, dwarfed by the scale of Saturn and its rings, appears as an elegant crescent in this image taken by NASA's Cassini Spacecraft. Views like this are impossible from Earth, where we only see Saturn's moons as (more or less) fully illuminated disks.
September 14, 2015

From the Night Side

September 14, 2015

From the Night Side

The night sides of Saturn and Tethys are dark places indeed. This image from NASA's Cassini spacecraft shows shadows are darker areas than sunlit areas, and in space, with no air to scatter the light, shadows can appear almost totally black.
July 29, 2015

The Colors of Tethys II

July 29, 2015

The Colors of Tethys II

This enhanced-color mosaic of Saturn's icy moon Tethys shows a range of features on the moon's trailing hemisphere. This image from NASA's Cassini spacecraft was constructed from 52 images from its narrow-angle camera on April 11, 2015.
July 29, 2015

Red Arcs on Tethys

July 29, 2015

Red Arcs on Tethys

Unusual arc-shaped, reddish streaks cut across the surface of Saturn's ice-rich moon Tethys in this enhanced-color mosaic from NASA's Cassini spacecraft.
July 29, 2015

The Colors of Tethys I

July 29, 2015

The Colors of Tethys I

This enhanced-color mosaic from NASA's Cassini spacecraft of Saturn's icy moon Tethys shows a range of features on the moon's trailing hemisphere.
July 27, 2015

Bright Basin on Tethys

July 27, 2015

Bright Basin on Tethys

The giant impact basin Odysseus on Saturn's moon Tethys stands out brightly from the rest of the illuminated icy crescent as seen by NASA's Cassini spacecraft.
July 20, 2015

Mother and Daughter

July 20, 2015

Mother and Daughter

In Greek mythology, Dione was the daughter of Tethys. Scientists believe that they formed out of the same disk around an early Saturn. NASA's Cassini spacecraft sees the two eponymous moons together.
June 15, 2015

Tethys 'Eyes' Saturn

June 15, 2015

Tethys 'Eyes' Saturn

In this image from NASA's Cassini spacecraft, two large craters on Tethys, near the line where day fades to night, almost resemble two giant eyes observing Saturn. Tethys is significantly closer to the camera, while the planet is in the background.
June 8, 2015

Tethys the Target

June 8, 2015

Tethys the Target

Like most moons in the solar system, Tethys is covered by impact craters. Some craters bear witness to incredibly violent events, such as the crater Odysseus (seen here at the right of this image from NASA's Cassini spacecraft).
December 15, 2014

Tethys the Spy

December 15, 2014

Tethys the Spy

NASA's Cassini orbiter shows that Tethys appears to be peeking out from behind Rhea, watching the watcher. Scientists believe that Tethys' surprisingly high albedo is due to the water ice jets emerging from its neighbor, Enceladus.
November 24, 2014

Circling Saturn

November 24, 2014

Circling Saturn

NASA's Cassini orbiter shows Saturn is circled by its rings (nearly edge-on in this image), as well as by the moons Tethys (the large bright body near the lower right corner) and Mimas (seen as a slight crescent against Saturn's disk above the rings).
November 4, 2014

Color Maps of Tethys - 2014

November 4, 2014

Color Maps of Tethys - 2014

This set of global, color mosaics of Saturn's moon Tethys was produced from images taken by NASA's Cassini spacecraft during its first ten years exploring the Saturn system.
November 4, 2014

Color Maps of Mimas - 2014

November 4, 2014

Color Maps of Mimas - 2014

This set of global, color mosaics of Saturn's moon Mimas was produced from images taken by NASA's Cassini spacecraft during its first ten years exploring the Saturn system.
October 20, 2014

Mini Moons

October 20, 2014

Mini Moons

The moons visible in this image from NASA's Cassini spacecraft, Pandora and Atlas, are quite small by astronomical standards, but the rings are also enormous. From one side of the planet to the other, the A ring stretches over 170,000 miles (270,000 km).
October 13, 2014

Stuck on the Rings

October 13, 2014

Stuck on the Rings

Like a drop of dew hanging on a leaf, Tethys appears to be stuck to the A and F rings from this perspective of NASA's Cassini spacecraft.

JPL Photojournal

Access to the full library of publicly released images from various Solar System exploration programs
Great images in NASA

A selection of the best-known images from a half-century of exploration and discovery

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