Saturn's 'Potato'Moon Epimetheus Bears Scars of Past Collisions

In a newly released, high-resolution image of Epimetheus captured by the Cassini space probe on Feb. 21, this little moon gets a moment in the spotlight. In the photograph, Epimetheus emerges from deep, inky blackness, its surface decorated with gray polka-dots.

Epimetheus is about 70 miles (113 kilometers) across. Several craters on its surface are larger than 19 miles wide (30 km). The image shows the side of Epimetheus facing away from Saturn, at a distance of approximately 9,300 miles (15,000 km). The moon is too small to have an atmosphere, which must be held in place by gravity; nor does it have internal geologic activity. Without those factors, there is nothing to erase the craters that speckle the moon's surface.