On Dec. 23, 1672, Italian astronomer Giovanni Cassini found Rhea, Saturns second-largest moon. Rhea is made up of rock and ice and is covered in craters. Rhea is also the only moon found to have an oxygen environment. Rhea was the second moon that Cassini discovered. He discovered Saturns moon Iapetus about a year earlier. This raw image of Saturns icy moon Rhea was taken on March 10, 2013 by NASAs Cassini spacecraft, and gotten in the world March 10, 2013. The cam was pointing toward Rhea at around 174,181 miles (280,317 kilometers) away. (Image credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute) Rhea wasnt officially called till 1847. The British astronomer John Herschel recommended that Saturns moons ought to be named after the Titans. In Greek folklore, the Titans were the brothers and sis of Cronus, who the Romans referred to as “Saturn.” Cassini initially named the moons he found after the Sidera Lodoicea, suggesting the “Stars of Louis,” after King Louis XIV. Because Cassini found four of Saturns moons, NASA named a spacecraft after him.Catch up on our whole “On This Day In Space” series on YouTube with this playlist. On This Day in Space Archive! Still inadequate area? Do not forget to take a look at our Space Image of the Day, and on the weekends our Best Space Photos and Top Space News Stories of the week. Email Hanneke Weitering at [email protected] or follow her @hannekescience. Follow us @Spacedotcom and on Facebook..
On Dec. 23, 1672, Italian astronomer Giovanni Cassini discovered Rhea, Saturns second-largest moon. Rhea is likewise the only moon discovered to have an oxygen environment. Rhea was the second moon that Cassini found.