Dione

Saturn's moons · ice and rock · space geology

Saturn's icy moon. Dione orbits Saturn and is the fourth-largest of all its moons. It's about as wide as the distance across Australia, making it a pretty big world out in space.

Half rock, half ice. Dione is made of roughly equal amounts of water ice and rocky material, all wrapped in a thick icy crust on the outside and a solid rocky core deep inside.

Dramatic cliffs and scars. The side of Dione that trails behind as it orbits Saturn is marked by enormous cliffs and scarps called chasmata that cut across the landscape like giant wrinkles.

Two different faces. The trailing side of Dione is noticeably darker than the leading side, which is like having one side of your face tanned and the other pale.