APOD 1.2

THE GREAT BASIN ON SATURN'S TETHYS
This picture of Saturn's moon, Tethys, is really interesting. The picture was taken by the Cassini Spacecraft while orbiting the moon in July. Tethys is one of Saturn's larger moons with a diameter of about 1000 kilometers. One of the most interesting features revealed by the image is that of Tethys' large basin, Odysseus. Scientists believe that many moons would not survive the imapct from an object large enough to create a crater of that size. The fact that the crater did not shatter on impact shows that the moon is warm and malleable, possible with a liquid center. The crater alone is about 2/5 the size of the moon, or about 400 kilometers in diameter. Tethys is also home to another large crater called Melanthius.