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Emily Lakdawalla • Jun 29, 2007

Cassini views of Tethys and Mimas

Cassini has just passed the periapsis (closest approach) of its 48th orbit of Saturn, and this time around there were two icy moons in position for the spacecraft to catch some pretty pictures as it flew by: Tethys and Mimas.

Cassini approached Tethys with a crescent view of the moon. This mosaic was assembled from three images captured on approach; there are lots more close-up images from the flyby on the Cassini raw images website, but I thought these provided the nicest view.

Crescent Tethys

NASA / JPL / SSI / mosaic by Emily Lakdawalla

Crescent Tethys
Cassini captured the three images necessary to create this mosaic of a crescent Tethys as it approached for a close nontargeted flyby of the moon on June 27, 2007.
Mimas

NASA / JPL / SSI

Mimas
Cassini took this photo of Mimas on June 27, 2007 from a distance of about 180,000 kilometers (110,000 miles). The giant crater Herschel is on the terminator at left.

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