File:Iapetus_trailing_natural_color.jpg · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons
Iapetus is one of Saturn's moons, notable for its distinctive two-toned appearance with one hemisphere much darker than the other. It matters to scientists because its unusual features provide clues about the history and processes of Saturn's moon system.
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Encyclopedic overview
Iapetus (/aɪˈæpətəs/) is the outermost of Saturn's large moons. With an estimated diameter of 1,469 km (913 mi), it is the third-largest moon of Saturn and the eleventh-largest in the Solar System. Named after the Titan Iapetus from Greek mythology, the moon was discovered in 1671 by Giovanni Domenico Cassini.
A relatively low-density body composed mostly of ice, Iapetus is home to several distinctive and unusual features, such as a striking difference in coloration between its dark leading hemisphere and its bright trailing hemisphere, as well as a massive equatorial ridge that runs three-quarters of the way around the moon.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Iapetus” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.
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