My APOD of the solar system (credit to NASA/JPL/SSI) features Saturn’s moon Helene, a smaller moon that is the sixth farthest from Saturn. Helene was discovered using ground-based observations in 1980 and was named after Helen of Troy in 1988 who was the granddaughter of Cronus (Saturn) in Greek mythology. One theory is that Helene was formed from material in the rings being clumped together. This conflicts with the Solar Nebular Theory because scientists found that Helene is actually less dense than an asteroid and is not composed of dust and gas as the theory suggests. I really just chose this picture because Helene is in the solar system and because I think the light and shadowing of the picture is cool. I also think it’s cool that they were able to get so close to the moon (within two Earth diameters) and get us this good close-up picture.
Bergman, Jennifer. "Helene." Windows to the Universe. National Earth Science Teachers Association, 19 Jan. 2001. Web. 21 Oct. 2010. http://www.windows2universe.org/saturn/moons/helene.html
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