What is iapetus?

iapetus is Saturn's third largest month after Titan, which is larger than Luna, and Rhea, which is slightly larger than iapetus. Iapetus is slightly smaller than our own month, with an average of about 1,500 km, compared to the month of 1,737 km.

Iapetus has a number of physical peculiarities that make it somewhat more interesting than any typical rocky moon. The first and most striking is the dramatic two-color color of black and white, which gave him the nickname "Yin-Yang Moon". Like many months, iapetus is locked in tidy on its planet, which means that the same party always faces. In the direction of his movement around Saturn, iapetus is as dark as coal, on its end side, as clear as snow. This created a little confusion for early astronomers who watched it, who saw the moon blinking in and out of existence when its white and dark sides oscillated from our point of view.

But the two -color appearance of the iApetus is not the only unusual thing. Closer observation Cassini orbiter found that he has a hugeA equatorial ridge that almost perfectly follows its equator. With an average height of 13 km it extends by more than 200 km, with peaks in parts of 20 km. Given the fact that the highest peaks of the moon are only about 7 km and exist only in isolated towers or small ridges such as on Earth, the Iapetus equator's ridge throughout the planet is quite bizarre. There are different theories for its origin, none confirmed. Some conspiracy theorists have even taken it for evidence that iapetus is artificial!

iapetus was narrowly observed by the cosmic probe Cassini 10th September 2007, flying about 1,640 km (1,000 miles) from its surface and taking magnificent paintings with high resolution such as equatorial ridge and interface between bright and dark areas.

iapetus is one of Saturn's external satellites, which is unnecessary because it is so large. Other large satellites are placed much tighter on the planet. Iapetus also has a highly eccentric orbit, passengers far above and below Saturn's PRthe walls when they walk around the planet. For this reason, iapetus is the only main month of which the rings of Saturn would be clearly visible. Other months of orbit along with ring particles, which means that the rings are seen on the edge and are not very significant. Thanks to our great look, we can safely say that the iApetus will become a first -class property sometime at the end of the 21st or early 22 century. Start saving!