Cassini’s Farewell Look at Dione

Universe Today ^ | David Dickenson

[BenLurkin]

Cassini passed just 474 kilometers (295 miles) above the surface of the icy moon on Monday, August 17th at 2:33 PM EDT/18:33 UT. The flyby is the fifth and final pass of Cassini near Dione (pronounced dahy-OH-nee). The closest passage was 100 kilometers (60 miles) in December 2011. This final flyby of Dione will give researchers a chance to probe the tiny world’s internal structure, as Cassini flies through the gravitational influence of the moon. Cassini has only gathered gravity science data on a handful of Saturn’s 62 known moons.

“Dione has been an enigma, giving hints of active geologic processes, including a transient atmosphere and evidence of ice volcanoes. But we’ve never found the smoking gun,” said Cassini science team member Bonnie Buratti in a recent press release. “The fifth flyby of Dione will be the last chance.”

The raw images from this week’s flyby are now available on the NASA Cassini website. You can see the sequence of the approach, complete with a ‘photobomb’ of Saturn’s moon Enceladus early on. Dione then makes a majestic pass in front of Saturn’s rings and across the ochre disk of the planet itself, before snapping into dramatic focus. Here we see the enormous shattered Evander impact basin near the pole of Dione, along with Erulus crater with a prominent central peak right along the day/night terminator. Dione has obviously had a battered and troubled past, one that astro-geologists are still working out. Cassini then takes one last shot, giving humanity a fitting final look at Dione as a crescent receding off in the distance.

Next up for Cassini is a pass 1,036 kilometers (644 miles) from the surface of Titan on September 28th, 2015.

[BenLurkin]

Dione in profile against Saturn. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute

[GeronL]

Selene Dione

[Attention Surplus Disorder]

“Cassini passed just 474 kilometers (295 miles) above the surface of the icy moon on Monday, August 17th”

474 km is pretty much zero in astronomical terms. (Unless it’s a meteorite that missed you!)

Spectacular.

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks BenLurkin, extra to APoD.

[Red Badger]

Dione Warwick.....

[Red Badger]

I did get it, BTW, excellent Latin pun!.....

[GeronL]

bump

[cripplecreek]

We’ll be getting a new look at Jupiter next July when the Juno craft arrives.

[GeronL]

Great pics this week, including Pluto

[LonePalm]

I got it as well.

OK, this seriously qualifies me as an over educated old fart.

"Ceterum censeo 0bama esse delendam."

Garde la Foi, mes amis! Nous nous sommes les sauveurs de la République! Maintenant et Toujours!
(Keep the Faith, my friends! We are the saviors of the Republic! Now and Forever!)
LonePalm, le Républicain du verre cassé (The Broken Glass Republican)

[Red Badger]

It’s a classic DOUBLE PUN, it TWO languages!..................