Rhea (moon)
moon of Saturn
Rhea () is the second-largest natural satellite of Saturn and the ninth-largest moon in the Solar System, with a diameter of 1,528 kilometres (949 mi). Rhea is the smallest body in the Solar System that is confirmed to be in hydrostatic equilibrium. It has a nearly circular orbit around Saturn, but it is also tidally locked, like Saturn's other major moons. It rotates with the same period it revolves or orbits. Thus, one hemisphere always faces towards the planet.
The moon has a fairly low density, composed of roughly three-quarters ice and only one-quarter rock. The surface of Rhea is heavily cratered, with distinct leading and trailing hemispheres. Like the moon Dione, it has high-albedo ice cliffs that appear as bright wispy streaks visible from space. The surface temperature varies between −174 °C (−281.2 °F) and −220 °C (−364.0 °F).
Rhea was discovered in 1672 by Giovanni Domenico Cassini.
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Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 21, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q15050. VIAF identifies the subject as 244200593. The Library of Congress control number is sh2007003334. 1 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1672.
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This entry incorporates text from “Rhea (moon)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.