Tethys (moon)

Photo taken by Cassini-Huygens.

Tethys (pronounced TEE-this)[1][2] is a large moon of the planet Saturn.

Discovery

It was discovered by Giovanni Domenico Cassini in 1684.[1][2] It was one of the first Saturnian moons discovered.

Physical characteristics

Mass, density and volume

Tethys' mass is 617,551,805,221,061,000,000 kg, its density is 0.973 g/cm3 and its volume is 634,264,255 km3.[3]

Craters and valleys

It has a very large crater on its surface, called Odysseus.[1] It is named after a Greek warrior king in Homer's two great works, The Iliad and The Odyssey.[1] There is also a very long valley called Ithaca Chasma. It is 100 km wide and 2000 km long.[1][2]

Orbit and rotation

Tethys takes 45.3 hours to orbit (go around) Saturn[2] and orbits Saturn 294,660 km away.[2] Tethys is tidally locked in phase with its parent planet - one side always faces toward Saturn.[1]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Harvey, Samantha (2011-03-04). "NASA: Solar System Exploration: Planets: Saturn: Moons: Tethys". NASA. Archived from the original on 2007-06-09. Retrieved 2011-03-13.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Piazza, Enrico. "NASA: Jet Propulsion Laboratory: Cassini Solstice Mission: About Saturn & Its Moons: Saturn's Moons: Tethys". NASA. Archived from the original on 2016-04-04. Retrieved 2011-03-13.
  3. ↑ Harvey, Samantha (2011-03-04). "NASA: Solar System Exploration: Planets: Saturn: Moons: Tethys: Facts & Figures". NASA. Archived from the original on 2010-05-31. Retrieved 2011-03-13.