In this false-color mosaic, the clear-filter images are overlain by color composited from (compressed) infrared, green and ultraviolet images. The colors have been specially processed to accentuate subtle changes in the spectral properties of Dione's surface materials.

To create the color view, the color images were combined into a single black and white picture that isolates and maps regional color differences. This "color map" was then superimposed over the clear-filter mosaic. Gaps in the imaging coverage appear black.

Multiple generations of tectonics can be seen in this full-disk view. Near the eastern limb (at the right) are tectonic fractures, which may be similar to the bright, braided canyons that make up Dione's noted wispy terrain. Some of the bright, wispy markings can be seen at the left.

The softer ridges and troughs at the upper right appear to be about the same age as the cratering seen in that region. These appear to be older than the fracturing seen in the wispy terrain and the fractures seen at the right.

Scientists continue to be intrigued by the strikingly linear features seen crisscrossing the southern latitudes. The fine latitudinal streaks appear to crosscut everything, and appear to be the youngest feature type in this region of Dione.

A large impact basin hugs the south polar region (at the bottom, right of center). Northeast of the basin is a region of terrain that is relatively smooth, compared to the rest of the moon.

This view of Dione is centered on 1.3 degrees south latitude, 167.6 degrees west longitude. For a clear-filter view see .

The images in the mosaic were obtained with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera at distances ranging from of 55,280 to 27,180 kilometers (34,350 to 16,890 miles) from Dione. The full-size versions of the mosaics have an image scale of 316 meters (1,036 feet) per pixel.

In the Groove
Pasadena CA (JPL) Oct 18 - The Cassini spacecraft continues to prove that the closer the view of the myriad worlds constituting the Saturn system, the more interesting and varied the views become. This close-up view of icy Dione reveals a wonderful variety of surface features that are simultaneously familiar and unlike any other place in the solar system.

The terrain in this image is located within a 60-kilometer-wide (37-mile) impact crater along the feature called Padua Linea. The western rim of the encompassing crater runs from the middle left to the upper right. The crater's central peak can be seen at the lower right.

Multiple generations of fractures are visible here. Numerous fine, roughly parallel linear grooves run across the terrain from top to bottom and are interrupted by the larger, irregular bright fractures. In several places, fractures postdate some deposits in the bottoms of craters that are not badly degraded by time. Such a fracture, for example, runs from the center toward the upper right.

Most of the craters seen here have bright walls and dark deposits of material on their floors. As on other Saturnian moons, rockslides on Dione may reveal cleaner ice, while the darker materials accumulate in areas of lower topography and lower slope (e.g. crater floors and the bases of scarps).

This view is centered on terrain near 11 degrees south latitude, 238 degrees west longitude.

This clear-filter image was taken using the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on Oct. 11, 2005, during Cassini's close targeted flyby of Dione. The image was acquired from a distance of 4,486 kilometers (2,787 miles) from Dione and at a Sun-Dione-spacecraft, or phase, angle of 10 degrees. The image scale is 23 meters (75 feet) per pixel.

Ice Moon Rendezvous
Pasadena CA (SPX) Oct 18 - The movie begins with Cassini during its approach about 107,000 kilometers (66,000 miles) from the icy moon. Few surface details are discernable from this distance, but the view quickly improves. The movie jumps to a point 39,000 kilometers (24,000 miles) from Dione, with Saturn's atmosphere now in the background and draped by threadlike ring shadows.

As the spacecraft gets still closer, the camera focuses on bright fractures in the west. It becomes apparent that these braided canyons slice through older craters. At the closest point in this approach sequence, Cassini is about 4,000 kilometers (2,500 miles) above Dione's surface and the image scale is 234 meters (768 feet) per pixel. For a narrow-angle camera image taken at almost the same instant see here.

A dramatic shift in perspective follows, with Cassini moving past the point of closest approach and staring at a large crater on Dione's receding limb. Steep cliffs gleam in the sunlight as the intrepid craft pulls away. About three and a half hours have elapsed since the first image in the movie was taken.

This movie was created from clear-filter images taken during the Oct. 11, 2005, flyby of Dione. All images except the departing view were obtained with the Cassini spacecraft wide-angle camera.

Ringside with Dione Pasadena CA (SPX) Oct 18 - Speeding toward pale, icy Dione, Cassini's view is enriched by the tranquil gold and blue hues of Saturn in the distance. The horizontal stripes near the bottom of the image are Saturn's rings.

The spacecraft was nearly in the plane of the rings when the images were taken, thinning them by perspective and masking their awesome scale. The thin, curving shadows of the C ring and part of the B ring adorn the northern latitudes visible here, a reminder of the rings' grandeur.

It is notable that Dione, like most of the other icy Saturnian satellites, looks no different in natural color than in monochrome images.

Images taken on Oct. 11, 2005, with blue, green and infrared (centered at 752 nanometers) spectral filters were used to create this color view, which approximates the scene as it would appear to the human eye. The images were obtained with the Cassini spacecraft wide-angle camera at a distance of approximately 39,000 kilometers (24,200 miles) from Dione and at a Sun-Dione-spacecraft, or phase, angle of 22 degrees. The image scale is about 2 kilometers (1 mile) per pixel.

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