Daphnis’s ridge and porous body

What Cassini’s closest images revealed in 2017.

Published 2026-10-23

On 18 January 2017, Cassini photographed Daphnis closely enough to reveal its shape.^[1]

Shape

It is irregular, with a mostly smooth surface, a few craters and an equatorial ridge — plus another ridge in the northern hemisphere spanning about 90° of longitude.^[1]

Fluffy inside

Its low density implies a porosity of over 60%.^[1]

Ring dust coating

Its whole surface is expected to be covered in ring particles. The ridge is only about 1% of its volume, suggesting it reflects density variations within the ring.^[1]

Numbered citations link to the sources list on the Daphnis overview page.