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hor_green_bar1.jpg Rhea hor_green_bar1.jpg


Rhea - courtesy NASARhea is Saturn's largest satellite discovered in 1672 by Giovanni Cassini. The moon is icy and has a low density of 1.33 g/cm3. It probably has a rocky core that makes up about 1/3 of the Rhea's mass with the rest of the material to be water-ice. Rhea bears resemblance to Dione in their composition, albedo and terrain.

Another view of Rhea - copyright Calvin J. HamiltonThe surface of Rhea is heavily cratered. Generally, there are two major geological classifications for the types of craters on the surface. The first classification are for the craters larger than 40 kilometers in diameter (25 miles) and the second classification is for the craters less than 40 kilometers in diameter (25 miles). This evidence indicates the possibility of a surface REsurfacing that took place sometime in its history.



PHYSICAL DATA FOR RHEA
 Mass (kg) 2.49e + 21
 Mass (Earth = 1) 4.1667e - 04
 Radius (km) 765
 Radius (Earth = 1) 1.1994e - 01
 Mean Density (g/cm3) 1.33
 Mean Distance from Saturn (km) 527,040
 Magnitude (V0) 9.7



ORBITAL DATA FOR RHEA
 Rotational period (days) 4.517500
 Orbital period (days) 4.517500
 Mean orbital velocity (km/s) 8.49
 Orbital eccentricity 0.0010
 Orbital inclination (degrees) 0.35
 Escape (km/s) 0.659
 Albedo 0.7



Physical Data Key
Mass Mass
Mass Mass compared to that of Earth.
Radius Radius
Radius Radius compared to that of Earth.
Mean Density Average Density.
Distance Distance to the planet's center.
Magnitude The brightness of a star or object.
Orbital Data Key
Rotational Period Number of days to make one complete rotation.
Orbital Period Number of days to obital the planet.
Mean Orbital Velocity Average obital speed.
Orbital Eccentricity Eccentricity.
Orbital Inclination The tilt of the moon or planet.
Escape Escape Velocity.
Albedo Visual geometric albedo.




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