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Iapetus HD

-=] CDE HD Project proudly presents... [=-

IAPETUS
The 3rd largest natural satellite of Saturn, 11th largest in the Solar System, and the largest body in the Solar System known not to be in hydrostatic equilibrium. Unlike most of the large moons, its overall shape is neither spherical nor ellipsoid, but has a bulging waistline and squashed poles. Its unique equatorial ridge is so big (about 1,300 km long, 20 km wide, and 13 km high) that it visibly distorts Iapetus's shape even when viewed from a distance. Iapetus is heavily cratered, and Cassini images have revealed large impact basins, at least five of which are over 350 km wide. The largest has a diameter of 580 km; its rim is extremely steep and includes a scarp about 15 km high.

The difference in coloring between the two Iapetian hemispheres is striking. The leading hemisphere and sides, called Cassini Regio, are dark with a slight reddish-brown coloring, while most of the trailing hemisphere and poles are almost as bright as Europa. The dark material is a very thin layer, only a few tens of centimeters thick at least in some areas, according to Cassini radar imaging and the fact that very small meteor impacts have punched through to the ice underneath. The low density of Iapetus indicates that it is mostly composed of ice, with only a small (~20%) amount of rocky materials.

Iapetus was discovered by Giovanni Domenico Cassini, an Italian-born French astronomer, in October 1671.


-=] Accuracy vs. Artistic Liberties [=-
I aim to make colors realistic as possible, but specular/normal maps may be incorrect/exaggerated because I don't have real topography data to work with, and because anything shorter than Olympus Mons would barely cast a shadow. I do prefer to err on the side of "subtle", though.


-=] Copyright [=-
All rights reserved. You may redistribute CDE HD content as long as:
1) All content is left intact. (including this readme)
2) The content is attributed to Taehl. (don't be a thief)
3) The content is not to be monetized in any way. (no Adfly, etc.)


-=] Credits [=-
Texture badassery: Taehl
Children of a Dead Earth: Qswitched
Textures (public domain): https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA11116
Textures (GNU GPL): http://celestia.simulatorlabbs.com/CelSL/
Textures (CC-BY-SA): https://planet-texture-maps.fandom.com/
Raster editor: http://krita.org/
Normalmap generator: https://sites.google.com/site/ccdsurgeon/home
AI upscaling: https://github.com/lltcggie/waifu2x-caffe/