The Moving Moons of Saturn

Explanation: The moons of Saturn never stop. A space traveler orbiting the ringed giant planet would witness a continuing silent dance where Saturn's multiple moons pass near each other in numerous combinations. Like a miniature Solar System , the innermost moons orbit Saturn the fastest. The above movie was centered on Saturn's moon Rhea , so that the moons Mimas and Enceladus appear to glide by. At 1,500 kilometers across, Rhea is over three times larger than the comparably sized Mimas and Enceladus . The Sun illuminates the scene from the lower right, giving all of the moons the same crescent phase . The above time lapse movie was created by the Saturn-orbiting robotic Cassini spacecraft over a period of about 40 minutes.