Dione on the Edge

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute

Saturn’s moon Dione drifts before the planet’s rings, seen here almost edge on. For all their immense width, the rings are relatively paper-thin, about 30 feet (10 meters) in most places. For its part, Dione is about 698 miles (1,123 kilometers) across.

This natural-color view was obtained on Aug. 17, 2015 with Cassini’s wide-angle camera at a distance of approximately 66,200 miles (106,500 kilometers) from Dione.
The Cassini spacecraft ended its mission on Sept. 15, 2017.

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New gravity data from recent Cassini flybys of the giant planet suggest that Dione's crust floats on an ocean 62 miles below the surface, and may harbor microbial life.