This image was taken on September 24, 2005 and received on Earth September 25, 2005. The camera was pointing toward TETHYS at approximately 20,348 kilometers away, and the image was taken using the CL1 and CL2 filters.
This image has not been validated or calibrated. A validated/calibrated image will be archived with the NASA Planetary Data System in 2006.
Tethys is a moon that is very similar in nature to Dione and Rhea. Its density indicates that it is composed almost entirely of water-ice.
Tethys lies in a part of the Saturnian system that was most likely once crowded with debris created by collisions between smaller and larger moons. Its icy surface is heavily cratered and contains faults in the ice that are probably a result of Tethys quakes at the times of some major impacts.
There is an enormous trench on Tethys that is approximately 65 kilometers (40 miles) wide, and covers three-fourths of Tethys’ circumference. Scientists have theorized that the fissure, named Ithaca Chasma, is caused by the moons’ liquid crust hardening before its interior.
Tethys also has a vast expanse of young plains that stretch across its surface.
