World
Iapetus
Iapetus is Saturn’s third largest moon: one side as dark as coal, the other ten times brighter, about 1 469 km across.
See it live
Where it is right now is on the live 3D map.
Key facts
- Diameter
- 1 469 km
- Goes round
- Saturn
See it from here
Not by eye: Iapetus runs from magnitude 10.2 to 11.9 as its bright side and its dark side take turns facing us, so a small telescope catches it at its best.
How the map draws it
Its colours come from infrared, green and ultraviolet pictures, toned down toward what an eye would see · lit as a camera exposed for its own sunlight would show it · seen from far off it is a light at its computed brightness: the glow is how a camera records a point too bright to resolve.