February 17, 2012
Credits: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute - Credits for the additional process. and color.: Dr Paolo C. Fienga/Lunar Explorer Italia/IPF
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Saturn's small, irregularly shaped moon Helene is strikingly illuminated in this close view captured by Cassini during the Spacecraft's June 18, 2011, Fly-By. Helene was discovered by the French Astronomers Pierre Lagues and Jean Lecacheux in 1980, through ground-based observations carried out at the Observatoire du Pic-du-Midi; Helene was initially designated as S/1980 S 6. In 1988 this small Celestial Body was officially named Helene, after Helen of Troy, who was the granddaughter of Cronus (such as Saturn) in Greek Mythology. The moon is also designated Saturn XII, a number which it received in 1982, under the designation of Dione B (and that is because Helene is co-orbital with Dione and it is located in its Leading Lagrangian Point. Helene also is one of four known so-called Trojan Moons. Although it is not visible at this exposure, the Giant Gas-Planet Saturn actually fills the dark background of this image of Helene. This view looks toward the anti-Saturn side of Helene (which is about 33 Km, or approx. 21 miles across). North on Helene is up. The lit Terrain on the right is on the Leading Hemisphere, while lit Terrain barely visible at the top of the image, surrounds Helene's North Pole. This image was taken in Visible Light with the Cassini Spacecraft narrow-angle camera. The view was obtained at a distance of approximately 11.000 Km (about 7000 miles) from Helene and at a Sun-Helene-Spacecraft, or Phase, Angle of 151°. Image scale is roughly 67 meters (220 feet) per pixel. This frame has been colorized in Absolute Natural Colors by (such as the colors that a human eye would actually perceive if someone were onboard the NASA - Cassini Spacecraft and then looked towards the Saturnian moon Helene), by using an original technique created - and, in time, dramatically emproved - by the Lunar Explorer Italia Team. |
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