Dione

Also known as Saturn IV

moon of Saturn

AI overview

Dione is a large moon that orbits Saturn, one of the gas giant planets in our solar system. Scientists find it interesting because it shows signs of geological activity and may have a subsurface ocean, making it a candidate for studying whether conditions suitable for life might exist beyond Earth.

AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.

Wikidata facts

Area: 3964776.51
Radius: 561.70
Mass: 1.09546
Orbital period: 2.736915
Image: Dione in natural light.jpg

Show 10 more facts

albedo: 0.55
Commons category: Dione (moon)
time of discovery or invention: 1684-00-00
apparent magnitude: 10.4
orbital eccentricity: 0.0022
semi-major axis of an orbit: 377420
orbital inclination: 0.019
density: 1.4781
surface gravity: 0.212
temperature: 87

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Article

Dione (/daɪˈoʊni/) is the fourth-largest moon of Saturn. With a mean diameter of 1,123 km and a density of about 1.48 g/cm, Dione is composed of an icy mantle and crust overlying a silicate rocky core, with rock and water ice roughly equal in mass. Its trailing hemisphere is marked by large cliffs and scarps called chasmata; the trailing hemisphere is also significantly darker compared to the leading hemisphere.

The moon was discovered by Italian astronomer Giovanni Domenico Cassini in 1684 and is named after the Titaness Dione in Greek mythology. Dione was first imaged up-close by the Voyager 1 space probe in 1980. Later, the Cassini spacecraft made multiple flybys of Dione throughout the 2000s and 2010s as part of its campaign to explore the Saturn system.