Recent improvements of the Saturnian satellites atlases: Mimas, Enceladus, and Dione

Abstract

The Cassini Imaging Science Subsystem (ISS) acquired many high-resolution images (<1 km/pixel) of the Icy Saturnian satellites during the nominal mission of the Cassini spacecraft between 2004 and 2008. These images were used to create high-resolution mosaics of these satellites. The Cassini mission is expected to continue til l2017 and high-resolution images of the first three years of the extension were used to improve the mosaics, especially in the Northern parts which were not illuminated during the nominal mission. These improved mosaics were the baseline for new versions of the atlases of Mimas, Enceladus, and Dione described in this paper. These new atlases supersede the previous versions from 2006 (Enceladus) and 2008 (Mimas and Dione), and include the official names of additional features, proposed by the Cassini imaging team, approved by the International Astronomical Union (IAU). The new atlases are available to the public through the Imaging Team’s web site and the Planetary Data System (PDS).