Saturn’s distinctive moon Iapetus (eye-APP-eh-tuss) is cryogenically frozen in the equivalent of its teenage years. The moon has retained the youthful figure and bulging waistline it sported more than ...

Call it moonception, if you’d like. Astronomers say that a moon-with-a-moon scenario could explain some of the strange features of Iapetus, the third-largest of Saturn’s 62-known moons. Iapetus was ...

There are many odd things about Iapetus, the icy moon of Saturn. One of its most striking features is the strange two-tone coloration of its surface, likely due to the evaporation of water ice leaving ...

The giant ridge around the middle of Saturn moon's Iapetus that makes it resemble an oversize walnut may have essentially formed as a "hug" from a dead moon, researchers say. Iapetus, the ...

Saturn's moon, Iapetus, imaged by NASA's Cassini spacecraft in September 2007. (Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute) We recently explored Saturn’s moon, Pan, and its unique, food-like ...

Although it is no longer uncharted land, the origin of the dark territory of Cassini Regio on Iapetus remains a mystery. Also puzzling is the equatorial ridge that bisects this terrain, and how it ...

Looking for a sky event this week? Check out our full Sky This Week column. November 16: Iapetus at western elongation The ...

ITHACA, N.Y. – Iapetus is often called Saturn’s most bizarre moon, due to its starkly contrasting hemispheres – one black as coal, the other white as snow. Images taken by the Cassini-Huygens ...

For centuries, people wondered how the leopard got its spots. The consensus is pretty solid that evolution played a major role. But it’s only been five years since the arrival of high-resolution ...

On Dec. 31, 2004, NASA’s Cassini spacecraft flew by Iapetus, Saturn’s third largest moon. Iapetus was discovered by the Italian astronomer Giovanni Cassini in 1671. NASA’s Cassini craft flew by the ...

Clear as black and white, Saturn's moon Iapetus is two-faced. One half is dark as coal and the other is as bright as fresh linens. Astronomers have puzzled over the stark difference since late in the ...