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Rhea () is the second-largest
moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It is the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System and the largest and most massive relative to its parent planet, with a diameter about one-quarter that of Earth (comparable to the width of ...
of
Saturn Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second-largest in the Solar System, after Jupiter. It is a gas giant with an average radius of about nine and a half times that of Earth. It has only one-eighth the average density of Earth; h ...
and the ninth-largest moon in the
Solar System The Solar System Capitalization of the name varies. The International Astronomical Union, the authoritative body regarding astronomical nomenclature, specifies capitalizing the names of all individual astronomical objects but uses mixed "Solar ...
. It is the smallest body in the
Solar System The Solar System Capitalization of the name varies. The International Astronomical Union, the authoritative body regarding astronomical nomenclature, specifies capitalizing the names of all individual astronomical objects but uses mixed "Solar ...
for which precise measurements have confirmed a shape consistent with
hydrostatic equilibrium In fluid mechanics, hydrostatic equilibrium (hydrostatic balance, hydrostasy) is the condition of a fluid or plastic solid at rest, which occurs when external forces, such as gravity, are balanced by a pressure-gradient force. In the planetary ...
. It was discovered in 1672 by
Giovanni Domenico Cassini Giovanni Domenico Cassini, also known as Jean-Dominique Cassini (8 June 1625 – 14 September 1712) was an Italian (naturalised French) mathematician, astronomer and engineer. Cassini was born in Perinaldo, near Imperia, at that time in the ...
.


Discovery

Rhea was discovered by
Giovanni Domenico Cassini Giovanni Domenico Cassini, also known as Jean-Dominique Cassini (8 June 1625 – 14 September 1712) was an Italian (naturalised French) mathematician, astronomer and engineer. Cassini was born in Perinaldo, near Imperia, at that time in the ...
on 23 December 1672. It was the second moon of Saturn that Cassini discovered, and the third moon discovered around Saturn overall.


Name

Rhea is named after the Titan Rhea of
Greek mythology A major branch of classical mythology, Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the ancient Greeks, and a genre of Ancient Greek folklore. These stories concern the origin and nature of the world, the lives and activities of de ...
, the "mother of the gods" and wife of Kronos, the Greek counterpart of the god
Saturn Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second-largest in the Solar System, after Jupiter. It is a gas giant with an average radius of about nine and a half times that of Earth. It has only one-eighth the average density of Earth; h ...
. It is also designated Saturn V (being the fifth major moon going outward from the planet, after Mimas,
Enceladus Enceladus is the sixth-largest moon of Saturn (19th largest in the Solar System). It is about in diameter, about a tenth of that of Saturn's largest moon, Titan. Enceladus is mostly covered by fresh, clean ice, making it one of the most refl ...
, Tethys, and Dione). Cassini named the four moons he discovered (Tethys, Dione, Rhea, and
Iapetus In Greek mythology, Iapetus (; ; grc, Ἰαπετός, Iapetós), also Japetus, is a Titan, the son of Uranus and Gaia and father of Atlas, Prometheus, Epimetheus, and Menoetius. He was also called the father of Buphagus and Anchiale in oth ...
) ''
Sidera Lodoicea Sidera Lodoicea is the name given by the astronomer Giovanni Domenico Cassini to the four moons of Saturn discovered by him in the years 1671, 1672, and 1684 and published in his ''Découverte de deux nouvelles planètes autour de Saturne'' in 16 ...
'' (the stars of Louis) to honor King
Louis XIV , house = Bourbon , father = Louis XIII , mother = Anne of Austria , birth_date = , birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France , death_date = , death_place = Palace of Ve ...
. Astronomers fell into the habit of referring to them and Titan as ''Saturn I'' through ''Saturn V''. Once Mimas and Enceladus were discovered, in 1789, the numbering scheme was extended to ''Saturn VII'', and then to ''Saturn VIII'' with the discovery of Hyperion in 1848. Rhea was not named until 1847, when
John Herschel Sir John Frederick William Herschel, 1st Baronet (; 7 March 1792 – 11 May 1871) was an English polymath active as a mathematician, astronomer, chemist, inventor, experimental photographer who invented the blueprint and did botanical wor ...
(son of
William Herschel Frederick William Herschel (; german: Friedrich Wilhelm Herschel; 15 November 1738 – 25 August 1822) was a German-born British astronomer and composer. He frequently collaborated with his younger sister and fellow astronomer Caroline ...
, discoverer of the planet
Uranus Uranus is the seventh planet from the Sun. Its name is a reference to the Greek god of the sky, Uranus ( Caelus), who, according to Greek mythology, was the great-grandfather of Ares (Mars), grandfather of Zeus (Jupiter) and father of Cro ...
, and two other moons of Saturn, Mimas and
Enceladus Enceladus is the sixth-largest moon of Saturn (19th largest in the Solar System). It is about in diameter, about a tenth of that of Saturn's largest moon, Titan. Enceladus is mostly covered by fresh, clean ice, making it one of the most refl ...
) suggested in ''Results of Astronomical Observations made at the Cape of Good Hope'' that the names of the Titans, sisters and brothers of Kronos (Saturn, in Roman mythology), be used.


Physical characteristics


Size, mass, and internal structure

Rhea is an icy body with a density of about 1.236 g/cm3. This low
density Density (volumetric mass density or specific mass) is the substance's mass per unit of volume. The symbol most often used for density is ''ρ'' (the lower case Greek letter rho), although the Latin letter ''D'' can also be used. Mathematicall ...
indicates that it is made of ~25% rock (density ~3.25 g/cm3) and ~75% water ice (density ~0.93 g/cm3). Although Rhea is the ninth-largest moon, it is only the tenth-most massive moon. Indeed,
Oberon Oberon () is a king of the fairies in medieval and Renaissance literature. He is best known as a character in William Shakespeare's play ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'', in which he is King of the Fairies and spouse of Titania, Queen of the Fairi ...
, the second-largest moon of Uranus, has almost the same size, but is significantly denser than Rhea (1.63 vs 1.24) and thus more massive, although Rhea is slightly larger by volume. The moons more massive than Rhea are: the
Moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It is the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System and the largest and most massive relative to its parent planet, with a diameter about one-quarter that of Earth (comparable to the width of ...
, the four
Galilean moons The Galilean moons (), or Galilean satellites, are the four largest moons of Jupiter: Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto. They were first seen by Galileo Galilei in December 1609 or January 1610, and recognized by him as satellites of Jupite ...
, Titan, Triton, Titania, and Oberon. Oberon, Uranus's second-largest moon, has a radius that is ~0.4% smaller than Rhea's, but a density that is ~26% greater. Se
JPLSSD.
/ref> Before the ''Cassini-Huygens'' mission, it was assumed that Rhea had a rocky core. However, measurements taken during a close flyby by the ''Cassini'' orbiter in 2005 cast this into doubt. In a paper published in 2007 it was claimed that the axial dimensionless
moment of inertia The moment of inertia, otherwise known as the mass moment of inertia, angular mass, second moment of mass, or most accurately, rotational inertia, of a rigid body is a quantity that determines the torque needed for a desired angular accelera ...
coefficient was 0.4. Such a value indicated that Rhea had an almost homogeneous interior (with some compression of ice in the center) while the existence of a rocky core would imply a moment of inertia of about 0.34. In the same year another paper claimed the moment of inertia was about 0.37. Rhea being either partially or fully differentiated would be consistent with the observations of the ''Cassini'' probe. A year later yet another paper claimed that the moon may not be in hydrostatic equilibrium meaning that the moment of inertia cannot be determined from the gravity data alone. In 2008 an author of the first paper tried to reconcile these three disparate results. He concluded that there is a systematic error in the ''Cassini'' radio Doppler data used in the analysis, but after restricting the analysis to a subset of data obtained closest to the moon, he arrived at his old result that Rhea was in hydrostatic equilibrium and had a moment of inertia of about 0.4, again implying a homogeneous interior. The triaxial shape of Rhea is consistent with a homogeneous body in
hydrostatic equilibrium In fluid mechanics, hydrostatic equilibrium (hydrostatic balance, hydrostasy) is the condition of a fluid or plastic solid at rest, which occurs when external forces, such as gravity, are balanced by a pressure-gradient force. In the planetary ...
rotating at Rhea's angular velocity. Modelling in 2006 suggested that Rhea could be barely capable of sustaining an internal liquid-water ocean through heating by
radioactive decay Radioactive decay (also known as nuclear decay, radioactivity, radioactive disintegration, or nuclear disintegration) is the process by which an unstable atomic nucleus loses energy by radiation. A material containing unstable nuclei is consi ...
; such an ocean would have to be at about 176 K, the eutectic temperature for the water–ammonia system. More recent indications are that Rhea has a homogeneous interior and hence that this ocean does not exist.


Surface features

Rhea's features resemble those of Dione, with dissimilar leading and trailing hemispheres, suggesting similar composition and histories. The temperature on Rhea is 99 K (−174 °C) in direct sunlight and between 73 K (−200 °C) and 53 K (−220 °C) in the shade. Rhea has a rather typical heavily cratered surface, with the exceptions of a few large Dione-type chasmata or fractures ( wispy terrain) on the trailing hemisphere (the side facing away from the direction of motion along Rhea's orbit) and a very faint "line" of material at Rhea's equator that may have been deposited by material deorbiting from its rings. Rhea has two very large impact basins on its anti-Cronian hemisphere (facing away from Saturn), which are about 400 and 500 km across. The more northerly and less degraded of the two, called Tirawa, is roughly comparable to the basin Odysseus on Tethys. There is a 48 km-diameter impact crater at 112°W that is prominent because of an extended system of bright rays. This crater, called
Inktomi Inktomi Corporation was a company that provided software for Internet service providers (ISPs). It was incorporated in Delaware and headquartered in Foster City, California, United States. Customers included Microsoft, HotBot, Amazon.com, eBay, ...
, is nicknamed "The Splat", and may be one of the youngest craters on the inner moons of Saturn. No evidence of any endogenic activity has been discovered. Its surface can be divided into two geologically different areas based on
crater Crater may refer to: Landforms *Impact crater, a depression caused by two celestial bodies impacting each other, such as a meteorite hitting a planet *Explosion crater, a hole formed in the ground produced by an explosion near or below the surfac ...
density; the first area contains craters which are larger than 40 km in diameter, whereas the second area, in parts of the polar and equatorial regions, has only craters under that size. This suggests that a major resurfacing event occurred some time during its formation. The leading hemisphere is heavily cratered and uniformly bright. As on
Callisto Callisto most commonly refers to: * Callisto (mythology), a nymph *Callisto (moon), a moon of Jupiter Callisto may also refer to: Art and entertainment *''Callisto series'', a sequence of novels by Lin Carter *''Callisto'', a novel by Torsten Kr ...
, the craters lack the high relief features seen on the
Moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It is the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System and the largest and most massive relative to its parent planet, with a diameter about one-quarter that of Earth (comparable to the width of ...
and Mercury. It has been theorized that these cratered plains are up to four billion years old on average. On the trailing hemisphere there is a network of bright swaths on a dark background and few visible craters. It had been thought that these bright areas might be material ejected from ice
volcano A volcano is a rupture in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth, volcanoes are most often found where tectonic plates are ...
es early in Rhea's history when its interior was still liquid. However, observations of Dione, which has an even darker trailing hemisphere and similar but more prominent bright streaks, show that the streaks are actually ice cliffs resulting from extensive fracturing of the moon's surface. The extensive dark areas are thought to be deposited
tholin Tholins (after the Greek (') "hazy" or "muddy"; from the ancient Greek word meaning "sepia ink") are a wide variety of organic compounds formed by solar ultraviolet or cosmic ray irradiation of simple carbon-containing compounds such as carbon ...
s, which are a mix of complex
organic compound In chemistry, organic compounds are generally any chemical compounds that contain carbon-hydrogen or carbon-carbon bonds. Due to carbon's ability to catenate (form chains with other carbon atoms), millions of organic compounds are known. The s ...
s generated on the ice by
pyrolysis The pyrolysis (or devolatilization) process is the thermal decomposition of materials at elevated temperatures, often in an inert atmosphere. It involves a change of chemical composition. The word is coined from the Greek-derived elements ''pyr ...
and
radiolysis Radiolysis is the dissociation of molecules by ionizing radiation. It is the cleavage of one or several chemical bonds resulting from exposure to high-energy flux. The radiation in this context is associated with ionizing radiation; radiolysis is ...
of simple compounds containing carbon, nitrogen and hydrogen.A spectroscopic study of the surfaces of Saturn's large satellites: H2O ice, tholins, and minor constituents
(PDF). Dale P. Cruikshank, Tobias. Owen, Cristina Dalle Ore, Thomas R. Geballe, Ted L. Roush, Catherine de Bergh, Scott A. Sandford, Francois Poulet, Gretchen K. Benedix, Joshua P. Emery. ''Icarus'', 175, pages: 268–283, 2 March 2005.
The January 17, 2006 distant flyby by the ''Cassini'' spacecraft yielded images of the wispy hemisphere at better resolution and a lower Sun angle than previous observations. Images from this and subsequent flybys showed that Rhea's streaks in fact are tectonically formed ice cliffs (''chasmata'') similar to those of Dione.


Formation

The moons of Saturn are thought to have formed through co-accretion, a similar process to that believed to have formed the planets in the Solar System. As the young giant planets formed, they were surrounded by discs of material that gradually coalesced into moons. However, a proposed model for the formation of Titan may also shine a new light on the origin of Rhea and
Iapetus In Greek mythology, Iapetus (; ; grc, Ἰαπετός, Iapetós), also Japetus, is a Titan, the son of Uranus and Gaia and father of Atlas, Prometheus, Epimetheus, and Menoetius. He was also called the father of Buphagus and Anchiale in oth ...
. In this model, Titan was formed in a series of
giant impact The giant-impact hypothesis, sometimes called the Big Splash, or the Theia Impact, suggests that the Moon formed from the ejecta of a collision between the proto-Earth and a Mars-sized planet, approximately 4.5 billion years ago, in the Hadean ...
s between pre-existing moons, and Rhea and Iapetus are thought to have formed from part of the debris of these collisions.


Atmosphere

On November 27, 2010, NASA announced the discovery of a tenuous atmosphere—an
exosphere The exosphere ( grc, ἔξω "outside, external, beyond", grc, σφαῖρα "sphere") is a thin, atmosphere-like volume surrounding a planet or natural satellite where molecules are gravitationally bound to that body, but where the densit ...
. It consists of oxygen and carbon dioxide in proportion of roughly 5 to 2. The surface density of the exosphere is from 105 to 106 molecules in a cubic centimeter depending on local temperature. The main source of oxygen is
radiolysis Radiolysis is the dissociation of molecules by ionizing radiation. It is the cleavage of one or several chemical bonds resulting from exposure to high-energy flux. The radiation in this context is associated with ionizing radiation; radiolysis is ...
of water ice at the surface by ions supplied by the
magnetosphere of Saturn The magnetosphere of Saturn is the cavity created in the flow of the solar wind by the planet's internally generated magnetic field. Discovered in 1979 by the ''Pioneer 11'' spacecraft, Saturn's magnetosphere is the second largest of any planet ...
. The source of the carbon dioxide is less clear, but it may be related to
oxidation Redox (reduction–oxidation, , ) is a type of chemical reaction in which the oxidation states of substrate change. Oxidation is the loss of electrons or an increase in the oxidation state, while reduction is the gain of electrons or a d ...
of the organics present in ice or to
outgassing Outgassing (sometimes called offgassing, particularly when in reference to indoor air quality) is the release of a gas that was dissolved, trapped, frozen, or absorbed in some material. Outgassing can include sublimation and evaporation (which a ...
of the moon's interior.


Possible ring system

On March 6, 2008, NASA announced that Rhea may have a tenuous ring system. This would mark the first discovery of rings around a moon. The rings' existence was inferred by observed changes in the flow of electrons trapped by Saturn's magnetic field as ''Cassini'' passed by Rhea. Dust and debris could extend out to Rhea's
Hill sphere The Hill sphere of an astronomical body is the region in which it dominates the attraction of satellites. To be retained by a planet, a moon must have an orbit that lies within the planet's Hill sphere. That moon would, in turn, have a Hill sph ...
, but were thought to be denser nearer the moon, with three narrow rings of higher density. The case for a ring was strengthened by the subsequent finding of the presence of a set of small ultraviolet-bright spots distributed along Rhea's equator (interpreted as the impact points of deorbiting ring material). However, when ''Cassini'' made targeted observations of the putative ring plane from several angles, no evidence of ring material was found, suggesting that another explanation for the earlier observations is needed.


Exploration

The first images of Rhea were obtained by '' Voyager 1 & 2'' spacecraft in 1980–1981. There were five close targeted fly-bys by the '' Cassini'' orbiter: at a distance of 500 km on November 26, 2005, at a distance of 5,750 km on August 30, 2007, at a distance of 100 km on March 2, 2010, and at 69 km flyby on January 11, 2011 and a last flyby at 992 km on March 9, 2013. Rhea has been also imaged many times from long to moderate distances by the orbiter.


Gallery

File:Rhean rings PIA10246 Full res.jpg, An artist's impression of Rhea's rings File:Rhea true color.jpg, '' Cassini'' color image of Rhea - large crater Powehiwehi (right center) -
chasma In planetary nomenclature, a chasma (''plural'': chasmata ) is a deep, elongated, steep-sided depression. As of 2020, the IAU has named 122 such features in the Solar System, on Venus (63), Mars (25), Saturn's satellites Mimas (6), Tethys (2) ...
ta stretch vertically above (past crater Wakonda, near the terminator) - Onokoro Catenae (lower left). File:Rhea ice cliffs.jpg, Image of the wispy hemisphere, showing ice cliffs - Powehiwehi (upper center); chasmata stretch from upper left to right center - Onokoro Catenae (lower right). File:PIA08148 (Rhea-Splat).jpg, View of Rhea's leading hemisphere with crater Inktomi and its prominent
ray system A ray system comprises radial streaks of fine ''ejecta'' thrown out during the formation of an impact crater, looking somewhat like many thin spokes coming from the hub of a wheel. The rays may extend for lengths up to several times the diameter ...
just below center;
impact basin An impact crater is a circular depression in the surface of a solid astronomical object formed by the hypervelocity impact of a smaller object. In contrast to volcanic craters, which result from explosion or internal collapse, impact craters ...
Tirawa is at upper left File:PIA19057-SaturnMoon-Rhea-20150209.jpg, Enhanced-color views of Rhea taken by ''Cassini'' on 9 February 2015 File:PIA18316-SaturnMoon-Rhea-Cassini-20150210.jpg, Rhea's horizon viewed on 10 February 2015.


See also

* Former classification of planets *
List of natural satellites The Solar System's planets, and its most likely dwarf planets, are known to be orbited by at least 221 natural satellites, or moons. At least 20 of them are large enough to be gravitationally rounded; of these, all are covered by a crust of ...
* Rhea in fiction *
Rings of Rhea Rhea, the second-largest moon of Saturn, may have a tenuous ring system consisting of three narrow, relatively dense bands within a particulate disk. This would be the first discovery of rings around a moon. The potential discovery was announced ...
*
Subsatellite A subsatellite, also known as a submoon, or moonmoon, is a "moon of a moon" or a hypothetical natural satellite that orbits the moon of a planet. It is inferred from the empirical study of natural satellites in the Solar System that subsatellite ...
*
Moons of Saturn The moons of Saturn are numerous and diverse, ranging from tiny moonlets only tens of meters across to enormous Titan, which is larger than the planet Mercury. Saturn has 83 moons with confirmed orbits that are not embedded in its rings—of w ...


Notes


References


External links


Rhea Profile
a
NASA's Solar System Exploration site



''Cassini'' images of Rhea

Images of Rhea at JPL's Planetary Photojournal
* Movie o
Rhea's rotation
from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration site * Rhe
global
an
polar
basemaps (March 2012) from Cassini images
Rhea altlas
(released December 2010) from Cassini images
Rhea nomenclature
an
Rhea map with feature names
from th
USGS planetary nomenclature page

Google Rhea 3D
interactive map of the moon
Saturn's moon Rhea has thin atmosphere
{{Authority control 16721223 Discoveries by Giovanni Domenico Cassini Moons of Saturn Moons with a prograde orbit