Tethys (moon)

High school (ages 12+)
Space & Astronomy

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/tethys-moon

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. Who discovered Tethys (moon)?1684 by Giovanni Domenico Cassini
2. What is the location?Orbiting the planet Saturn, within the Saturnian system
3. What is the diameter?1,060 kilometers (660 miles)
4. What is Tethys?Tethys is Saturn's fifth‑largest moon. It is about 1,060 kilometers wide and is made mostly of water ice.
5. Why is Tethys so bright?Its surface is covered with very clean ice that reflects a lot of sunlight. That makes it shine bright, only a little less bright than the moon Enceladus.

Albedo: The measure of how much light a surface reflects; a higher albedo means it's brighter.
Spectroscopy: The study of how light interacts with matter to determine its composition.
Accretion: The process by which small particles clump together to form larger bodies, like planets and moons.
Protoplanetary Disk: A rotating disk of dense gas and dust surrounding a newly formed star or planet.