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Dione, Saturn’s moon, is a frigid world

A close flyby of Saturn’s grayish moon Dione reveals it is a mature, frigid world with hints of tectonic activity. The U.S.-European Cassini spacecraft flew within 310 miles (500 kilometers) of the Dione’s pale surface last week, showing it possessed a heavily cratered surface but no presence of an atmosphere.

Cassini scientists compared the frozen Dione to another Saturn moon, Enceladus, which recently was found to have active ice volcanoes and a significant atmosphere. Enceladus is the up-and-coming moon, complete with a recently active history, while Dione is the older, more mature moon.

posted by: kyawoo at 21:20 | link | comments |
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