Celestial Objects

Iapetus

Moon of Saturn

Citation Formats

General Reference

Space and Astronomy Atlas. "Iapetus." Accessed August 30, 2026. https://space.interactiveatlas.org/celestial-objects/iapetus.

APA Style

Space and Astronomy Atlas. (n.d.). Iapetus. Retrieved August 30, 2026, from https://space.interactiveatlas.org/celestial-objects/iapetus

BibTeX

@misc{spaceandastronomyatlas-iapetus,
  author = {Space and Astronomy Atlas},
  title = {Iapetus},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://space.interactiveatlas.org/celestial-objects/iapetus},
  note = {Accessed August 30, 2026}
}

Iapetus, Saturn's third-largest moon, is known as the yin and yang of Saturn's moons for its stark two-toned surface: a leading hemisphere as dark as coal and a trailing hemisphere many times brighter.

Facts

Object Type

Moon 1

Diameter (km)

1472 1

Orbital Distance

3,561,000 km from Saturn 1

Discovery Year

1671 1

Cross-Tradition Connections

Orbits

Saturn

Source NASA Solar System Exploration

Sources

1. NASA Solar System Exploration

National Aeronautics and Space Administrationscience.nasa.gov, Saturn Moons: Iapetus

Quote, science.nasa.gov, Saturn Moons: Iapetus

Iapetus has been called the yin and yang of the Saturn moons because its leading hemisphere has a reflectivity (or albedo) as dark as coal.

Comments (0)

No comments yet. Be the first to share a thought.

Reader Challenges (0 open reader challenges)

No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.

View At A Past Year

The atlas records no dated fact of its own for this entry, so there is no other year to choose.

Switch Atlas

The Inner World

The Civil World

The Natural World