Rhea

Mottled Rhea

Crescent Rhea

Distant Rhea

North on Rhea

Trailing Rhea

Opposing Rhea

Rhea Detached

Rhea in Saturnshine

Rhea Relief

Rhea Memory

The Rays of Rhea

Color on Rhea?

Rhea and Enceladus

Rhea in Profile

South on Rhea

Rhea Crescent

Uncovering Rhea

The Rhea Atlas

Receding Rhea

Rhea - Multiple Impact Craters

Saturn Moon Rhea

Saturn Satellite Rhea

Rhea - Icy Cratered Surface

Rhea: Polar View

Ancient Plains of Rhea

Sun-Drenched Rhea

Intense Color on Rhea

Rhea Wisps in Color

Far Out Rhea

Rhea Before the Eclipse

Wisp-covered Rhea

Rhea in Natural Color

Frame-Filling Rhea

Washed Out Rhea

Soaring Over Rhea

Rhea Real Big Rays

Rhea Bright Blemish

Prime Time for Rhea

Rhea Battered Surface

Rhea Ancient Surface

Sun-bleached Rhea

Above Rhea South Pole

Ancient Crater on Wispy Rhea

Map of Rhea - February 2010

Darkness Falls on Rhea

Rhea Pitted Profile

Rhea Bright Splat

Rhea Polar Maps - February 2010

Rhea Polar Maps - February 2010

NASA Cassini spacecraft pictures a crescent of Saturn moon Rhea. Although craters dominate this particular view, the trailing hemisphere of Rhea also features wispy fractures.

A nearly full Rhea shines in the sunlight in this image from NASA Cassini spacecraft. Rhea 949 miles, or 1,527 kilometers across is Saturn second largest moon.

NASA Cassini spacecraft captures Saturn moon Rhea at crescent phase, a view never visible from Earth. Near the terminator, a few of Rhea many craters show up in sharp relief.

On its fourth and final targeted flyby of Rhea, NASA Cassini spacecraft provided this stunning view of the ancient and heavily cratered surface. Billions of years of impacts have sculpted Rhea surface into the form we see today.

Surface features on Rhea -- mostly impact craters in this image -- are thrown into sharp relief thanks to long shadows. Viewing this terrain near the day/night terminator makes it easier to appreciate just how violent Rhea's geological history has been. The craters on Rhea (949 miles, or 1,527 kilometers across) are the result of 4.6 billion years of bombardment by small bodies. With very little erosion, the scars and craters remain unless they are overwritten by other, newer impacts. This view looks toward the anti-Saturn hemisphere of Rhea. North on Rhea is up and rotated 11 degrees to the right. The image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on Feb. 10, 2015. The view was acquired at a distance of approximately 47,000 miles (76,000 kilometers) from Rhea. Image scale is 1,500 feet (460 meters) per pixel. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/pia18310

This image is from Cassini's final observation of Saturn's icy moon Rhea (949 miles or 1,527 kilometers across) on May 2, 2017. The spacecraft was at the time high above the plane of Saturn's rings, looking down at Rhea's northern hemisphere. The northern rim of the giant Tirawa impact basin can be seen along the limb at left. (For a high-resolution view of Rhea, see PIA07763; Tirawa is the large basin at the one o'clock position in that view.) The image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera at a distance of approximately 230,000 miles (370,000 kilometers) from Rhea. Image scale is 1.2 miles (2 kilometers) per pixel. The Cassini spacecraft ended its mission on Sept. 15, 2017. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA21354

Gazing off toward the horizon is thought-provoking no matter what body's horizon it is. Rhea's horizon is slightly irregular and battered by craters, so thoughts inevitably turn towards the forces that shape these icy worlds. The surface of Rhea (949 miles or 1527 kilometers across) has been sculpted largely by impact cratering, each crater a reminder of a collision sometime in the moon's history. On more geologically active worlds like Earth, the craters would be erased by erosion, volcanoes or tectonics. But on quieter worlds like Rhea, the craters remain until they are disrupted or covered up by the ejecta of a subsequent impact. Lit terrain seen here is on the trailing hemisphere of Rhea. North on Rhea is up and rotated 12 degrees to the right. In this view, Cassini was at a subspacecraft latitude of 9 degrees North. The image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on Feb. 10, 2015. The view was obtained at a distance of approximately 35,000 miles (56,000 kilometers) from Rhea and at a Sun-Rhea-spacecraft, or phase, angle of 76 degrees. Image scale is 1,100 feet (330 meters) per pixel. .http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/pia18316

Saturn rings and small moon Prometheus obscure NASA Cassini spacecraft view of the planet second largest moon, Rhea. Prometheus can be seen just below the center of the image, in front of Rhea.

NASA Cassini spacecraft looks toward the battered surface of the moon Rhea.

Rhea, like many moons in the outer solar system, appears dazzlingly bright in full sunlight. This is the signature of the water ice that forms most of the moon's surface. Rhea (949 miles or 1,527 kilometers across) is Saturn's second largest moon after Titan. Its ancient surface is one of the most heavily cratered of all of Saturn's moons. Subtle albedo variations across the disk of Rhea hint at past geologic activity. This view looks toward the anti-Saturn hemisphere of Rhea. North on Rhea is up and rotated 36 degrees to the right. The image was taken with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on June 3, 2016 using a spectral filter which preferentially admits wavelengths of ultraviolet light centered at 338 nanometers. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA20495

Rhea emerges after being occulted by the larger moon Titan in this image taken by NASA Cassini spacecraft.

NASA Cassini looks over the heavily cratered surface of Rhea during the spacecraft flyby of the moon on March 10, 2012.

The sun low angle near the terminator highlights the topography of craters within Rhea wispy terrain

Bright streaks adorn the face of densely cratered Rhea, Saturn second largest moon

NASA Cassini spacecraft looks to the cratered surface of Saturn second largest moon, Rhea.

Beyond the ansa of Saturn rings, a crescent Rhea completes this ring-and-moon composition captured by NASA Cassini spacecraft.

The surface of Saturn moon Rhea bears witness to its violent history. Each crater seen here by NASA Cassini spacecraft records an impact in the moon past.

Rhea trailing hemisphere shows off its wispy terrain on the left of this image taken by NASA Cassini spacecraft which includes Saturn rings in the distance.

Thin lineaments cross back and forth, intersecting craters on the surface of Saturn moon Rhea in this equatorial view captured by NASA Cassini spacecraft.

This Cassini image shows predominantly the impact-scarred leading hemisphere of Saturn's icy moon Rhea (1,528 kilometers, or 949 miles across). The image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow angle camera on Dec. 12, 2004, at a distance of 2 million kilometers (1.2 million miles) from Rhea and at a Sun-Rhea-spacecraft, or phase, angle of 30 degrees. The image scale is about 12 kilometers (7.5 miles) per pixel. The image has been magnified by a factor of two and contrast enhanced to aid visibility. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA06564

This global digital map of Rhea was created using data taken during NASA Cassini and Voyager spacecraft flybys. This map contains data from Cassini Jan. 11, 2011, flyby of Rhea. Six Voyager images fill gaps in Cassini coverage of the north pole.

After a couple of years in high-inclination orbits that limited its ability to encounter Saturn's moons, NASA's Cassini spacecraft returned to Saturn's equatorial plane in March 2015. As a prelude to its return to the realm of the icy satellites, the spacecraft had its first relatively close flyby of an icy moon (apart from Titan) in almost two years on Feb. 9. During this encounter Cassini's cameras captured images of the icy moon Rhea, as shown in these in two image mosaics. The views were taken about an hour and a half apart as Cassini drew closer to Rhea. Images taken using clear, green, infrared and ultraviolet spectral filters were combined to create these enhanced color views, which offer an expanded range of the colors visible to human eyes in order to highlight subtle color differences across Rhea's surface. The moon's surface is fairly uniform in natural color. The image at right represents one of the highest resolution color views of Rhea released to date. A larger, monochrome mosaic is available in PIA07763. Both views are orthographic projections facing toward terrain on the trailing hemisphere of Rhea. An orthographic view is most like the view seen by a distant observer looking through a telescope. The views have been rotated so that north on Rhea is up. The smaller view at left is centered at 21 degrees north latitude, 229 degrees west longitude. Resolution in this mosaic is 450 meters (1,476 feet) per pixel. The images were acquired at a distance that ranged from about 51,200 to 46,600 miles (82,100 to 74,600 kilometers) from Rhea. The larger view at right is centered at 9 degrees north latitude, 254 degrees west longitude. Resolution in this mosaic is 300 meters (984 feet) per pixel. The images were acquired at a distance that ranged from about 36,000 to 32,100 miles (57,900 to 51,700 kilometers) from Rhea. The mosaics each consist of multiple narrow-angle camera (NAC) images with data from the wide-angle camera used to fill in areas where NAC data was not available. The image was produced by Heike Rosenberg and Tilmann Denk at Freie Universität in Berlin, Germany. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA19057

Southern terrain on Saturn moon Rhea is dimly illuminated by Saturnshine in this view of the dark side of the moon captured by NASA Cassini spacecraft.

The bright crescent of Saturn moon Enceladus slides past distant Rhea in this mutual event, or occultation, movie from Cassini

This global digital map of Saturn moon Rhea was created using data obtained by NASA Cassini and Voyager spacecraft.

This global digital map of Rhea was created using data taken during NASA Cassini and Voyager spacecraft flybys.

Side-by-side natural color and false-color views highlight the wispy terrain on Rhea trailing hemisphere

This global digital map of Saturn moon Rhea was created using data taken during NASA Cassini and Voyager spacecraft flybys

The battered features of the moon Rhea, seen at low phase, appear washed out by the sun.

The northern and southern hemispheres of Rhea are seen in these polar stereographic maps, mosaicked from the best-available NASA Cassini and Voyager images.

The northern and southern hemispheres of Rhea are seen in these polar stereographic maps, mosaicked from the best-available NASA Cassini and Voyager images.

Saturn second largest moon Rhea pops in and out of view behind the planet rings in this image from NASA Cassini spacecraft, which includes the smaller moon Epimetheus.

The Cassini spacecraft examines the desolate, cratered crescent of Rhea, a surface so heavily bombarded over the eons that new craters are virtually guaranteed to form on top of older ones. The large Tirawa impact basin is visible here

The rings cannot hide the ragged, icy crescent of Rhea, here imaged in color by the Cassini spacecraft. The second-largest moon of Saturn shines brightly through gaps in the rings

Cassini looks down upon Rhea, whose cratered surface was already ancient before any complex life developed on Earth. The terrain seen here has probably changed little in the past billion years

Wispy markings reach out across Rhea surface from its trailing hemisphere. The bright markings appear to be fractures, like those found on Dione

This animation show two crescent moons dance around Saturn as far-off Dione slips behind its sibling moon Rhea

NASA Cassini spacecraft captured this high-resolution view of the cratered surface of Saturn moon Rhea as the spacecraft flew by the moon on Oct. 17, 2010.

NASA Cassini spacecraft looks past Saturn rings and small moon Janus to spy the planet second largest moon, Rhea where lit terrain is seen.

This giant mosaic reveals Saturn's icy moon Rhea in her full, crater-scarred glory. This view consists of 21 clear-filter images and is centered at 0.4 degrees south latitude, 171 degrees west longitude. The giant Tirawa impact basin is seen above and to the right of center. Tirawa, and another basin to its southwest, are both covered in impact craters, indicating they are quite ancient. The bright, approximately 40-kilometer-wide (25-mile) ray crater seen in many Cassini views of Rhea is located on the right side of this mosaic (at 12 degrees south latitude, 111 degrees west longitude). See PIA07764 for a close-up view of the eastern portion of the bright, ray crater. There are few signs of tectonic activity in this view. However, the wispy streaks on Rhea that were seen at lower resolution by NASA's Voyager and Cassini spacecraft, were beyond the western (left) limb from this perspective. In high-resolution Cassini flyby images of Dione, similar features were identified as fractures caused by extensive tectonism. Rhea is Saturn's second-largest moon, at 1,528 kilometers (949 miles) across. The images in this mosaic were taken with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera during a close flyby on Nov. 26, 2005. The images were acquired as Cassini approached the moon at distances ranging from 79,190 to 58,686 kilometers (49,206 to 36,466 miles) from Rhea and at a Sun-Rhea-spacecraft, or phase, angle of about 19 degrees. Image scale in the mosaic is 354 meters (1,161 feet) per pixel. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA07763

Saturn moon Rhea passes in front of Dione, as seen from NASA Cassini spacecraft. These images are part of a mutual event sequence in which one moon passes close to, or in front of, another.

From just below the plane of Saturn rings, NASA Cassini spacecraft looks at the rings edge-on and sees the planet second largest moon beyond. Although Rhea may appear to be in the foreground of this image, it is not.

The small moon Mimas passes in front of the larger moon Rhea which is partly obscured by Saturn rings in this image from NASA Cassini spacecraft. Go to the Photojournal to view the animation.

Hemispheric color differences on Saturn moon Rhea are apparent in this false-color view from NASA Cassini spacecraft. This image shows the side of the moon that always faces the planet.

These three enhanced-color views of an equatorial region on Saturn moon Rhea were made from data obtained by NASA Cassini spacecraft. The colors have been enhanced to show colorful splotches and bands on the icy moon surface.

NASA Cassini spacecraft looks toward the cratered plains of the trailing hemisphere of Rhea. Some of the moon fractures, appearing like wispy bright lines, can be seen on the left of the image.

Saturn moon Rhea is gently lit in front of a background of the planet with a wide shadow cast by the rings which are seen nearly edge-on in this image captured by NASA Cassini spacecraft.

This set of global, color mosaics of Saturn moon Rhea was produced from images taken by NASA Cassini spacecraft during its first ten years exploring the Saturn system.

NASA Cassini spacecraft looks past the cratered south polar area of Saturn moon Rhea to spy the moon Dione and the planet rings in the distance. Dione wispy terrain can be seen on the trailing hemisphere of that moon.

Bright sunlight on Rhea shows off the cratered surface of Saturn second largest moon in this image captured by NASA Cassini Orbiter. The image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on Sept. 21, 2009.