Rhea
Rhea, major regular moon of Saturn and the planet’s second largest, after Titan. It was discovered in 1672 by the Italian-born French astronomer Gian Domenico Cassini and named for a Titan of Greek mythology.
- Year discovered: 1672
- Discovered by: Gian Domenico Cassini
- Distance from Saturn: 527,068 km (327,505 miles)
- Orbital period: 4.518 Earth days
- Diameter: 1,528 km (949 miles)
- Notable feature: Inktomi, a crater with reflective debris nicknamed “the Splat” for the raylike patterns that extend from it
Rhea has a diameter of 1,528 km (949 miles) and revolves around Saturn in a prograde (in the same direction as Saturn’s rotation, counterclockwise as viewed from above the planet’s north pole), nearly circular orbit at a mean distance of 527,068 km (327,505 miles) and with an orbital period of about 4.518 Earth days. Rhea’s density, which is 1.3 times that of water, indicates that the moon is composed mostly of water ice. In addition, infrared spectral observations show a surface composed mainly of water frost. Rhea has a tenuous atmosphere of oxygen and carbon dioxide. Like most of Saturn’s other major moons, Rhea rotates synchronously with its orbital period, keeping the same hemisphere facing Saturn and the same hemisphere forward in its orbit.
Rhea’s surface is highly reflective overall, although large regional variations are apparent. Rhea resembles Saturn’s moon Iapetus in size and density, but the distribution of its surface brightness is opposite to that of Iapetus and less extreme. In the latter regard it more resembles its neighboring moon Dione—its leading hemisphere is bright and heavily cratered, whereas its trailing hemisphere is darker with bright wispy streaks, a paucity of craters, and evidence of resurfacing.
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Rhea has a thin atmosphere of oxygen and carbon dioxide. Unlike the oxygen on Earth, which originated as a byproduct of biological processes used by early microorganisms, Rhea’s oxygen comes from Saturn’s magnetic field. As it moves over Rhea, the field distributes charged particles that react with the moon’s icy surface to release oxygen.
At Saturn’s distance from the Sun, frozen water and other volatile substances are so cold that they behave mechanically like rock and can retain impact craters. Consequently, Rhea’s bright cratered side strongly resembles the extensively cratered highlands of Mercury or of Earth’s Moon. Rhea is in fact one of the most heavily cratered of Saturn’s moons, and the reflective properties of its surface indicate that it is highly porous, like the Moon’s impact-pulverized debris layer, or regolith. Bright streaks have been observed on the darker, trailing side of Rhea. It remains to be determined whether the streaks are caused by tectonic activity (faulting) or by the escape of volatiles such as water or methane through fissures and their precipitation on the surface. The leading side of Rhea as it orbits Saturn has a remarkable bright crater, Inktomi, with extensive bright rays extending over much of the hemisphere, rather like the spectacular rayed lunar crater Tycho.