NASA releases images of Saturn’s moon

AUGUST 21 (Reuters) — NASA shed new light on Saturn’s orbiting moon Dione on Thursday (August 20), with pictures taken by the Cassini spacecraft during its latest close approach to the icy world on Monday (August 17).

The series of grey, black and white images show Dione’s icy terrain that NASA says shows the surface in “the best resolution ever.”

But the latest images aren’t the work of the closest flyover for this particular NASA spacecraft.

“Cassini passed 295 miles (474 kilometers) above Dione’s surface at 11:33 a.m. PDT (2:33 p.m. EDT) on Aug. 17. This was the fifth close encounter with Dione during Cassini’s long tour at Saturn. The mission’s closest-ever flyby of Dione was in Dec. 2011, at a distance of 60 miles (100 kilometers),” NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory said in a statement.

It turns out that the motive for the spacecraft’s mission wasn’t image-taking either, but gravity science, the laboratory said.

The high-quality images were the result of reflected sunlight off of Saturn that allowed scientists to snap a few images in a short period of time that showed unique details on the surface of the moon, created by shadows.

This was one of the last flyovers for Cassini. Only three remain, including an approach on Oct. 28, where the spacecraft with make a dive through the moon’s icy plume at just 30 miles (49 kilometers) away, collecting what NASA hopes will reveal valuable data about what’s happening on the surface of the tiny moon below.