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Rhea

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Encyclopedia of Astrobiology

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Definition

Rhea, discovered by Giovanni Domenico Cassini in 1672, is the largest of the midsized icy satellites of Saturn. Its distance to Saturn is 527,000 km (or 8.7 Saturnian radii). Its diameter is 1,528 km and its density is 1.24 g/cm3, typical of a water-ice body. Rhea was first observed by Voyager 1 in 1980 and then more extensively explored since 2005 by the Cassini orbiter. The surface of Rhea is heavily cratered with little differentiation, with the exception of Izanagi crater, which is 250 km in diameter. Rhea has no orbital resonance with any other satellite, which accounts for the lack of tidal heating and hence of geological activity.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Observatoire de Paris – Section de Meudon, LESIA – Bâtiment ISO (n°17), 5, Place Jules Janssen, 92195, Meudon, France

    Therese Encrenaz

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  1. Therese Encrenaz
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Correspondence to Therese Encrenaz .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Centro de Biología Molecular, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain

    Ricardo Amils

  2. Labo. d'Astrophysique de Bordeaux (LAB), Observatoire Aquitain des Sciences de l'Univers (OASU), Floirac CX, France

    Muriel Gargaud

  3. Centro de Astrobiología (CAB), Inst. Nacional de Técnica Aeroespacial, Torrejón de Ardoz, Madrid, Spain

    José Cernicharo Quintanilla

  4. Geophysical Lab., Carnegie Institution of Washington, Washington, District of Columbia, USA

    Henderson James Cleaves

  5. Astronomy Department, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts, USA

    William M. Irvine

  6. Dépt. Sc. de la Terre et de l’Atmosphère, Université du Québec, Montréal, Montreal, Québec, Canada

    Daniele Pinti

  7. Centre National d'Etudes Spatiale (CNES) DPI/E2U, Paris CX, France

    Michel Viso

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© 2014 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Encrenaz, T. (2014). Rhea. In: Amils, R., et al. Encyclopedia of Astrobiology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27833-4_1369-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27833-4_1369-3

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-27833-4

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Physics and AstronomyReference Module Physical and Materials ScienceReference Module Chemistry, Materials and Physics

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