• Iapetus
    Download Image
    The outermost of Saturn's major icy satellites, Iapetus, has dark and light sides that have long been known from telescopic observations. The Voyager encounters showed that the dark side has a jagged boundary with the bright, heavily cratered hemisphere. The origin of the dark coating remains a mystery, although it may be created by eruptions of methane.
  • Iapetus

ID#:

P23961

Source:

NASA

Owner:

Smithsonian Institution

Rights Usage:

Contact Smithsonian Institution

Terms of Use:

Smithsonian Terms of Use

For print or commercial use please see permissions information.