Saturn's moon Dione seen in glorious Cassini images (pictures)

Saturn, a planet famous for its rings, has over 50 known moons. NASA's Cassini spacecraft zoomed in on craggy Dione during the past few years for a series of images showing the pockmarked moon in gorgeous detail.

NASA says this image shows the "anti-Saturn side" of Dione. This is what the moon looked like to Cassini back in 2011. In 2015, Cassini went in for a series of close flybys to get a better look at Dione.

Dione is an icy moon in orbit around Saturn. NASA's Cassini spacecraft took a good look at its fascinating surface, covered in impact craters and features called chasmata involving cliffs and fractures. This image was captured in April at a distance of 68,000 miles (110,000 kilometers).

Saturn's icy moon Dione is suspended in space in front of the planet's rings in this view seen from the Cassini spacecraft. Cassini launched back in 1997 on a mission to study Saturn and its moons.

It looks like an illustration or a fanciful view of the Death Star from "Star Wars," but this image actually shows moon Dione with Saturn's rings in the background. NASA's Cassini spacecraft took the image from a distance of 98,000 miles (158,000 kilometers) away.

NASA's Cassini spacecraft took this full-view portrait of Saturn's moon Dione just before its final close approach on August 17. Cassini scooted in to just 295 miles from the surface, sending back some of the best images ever taken of the icy moon.

NASA's Cassini mission took one last flyby of Saturn's moon Dione on August 17. This crescent-moon image is a farewell photo as Cassini continues on with its mission of studying Saturn and its many satellites.

This shadowy, pockmarked landscape is the surface of Saturn's moon Dione as seen by NASA's Cassini spacecraft. The contrast has been enhanced to show the craters and other features in greater detail. This is one of the highest-resolution images of Dione ever captured by Cassini.

This geometric view of Saturn's moon Dione was taken by NASA's Cassini spacecraft on June 16 during a close flyby. Saturn's moon Enceladus appears as a small dot in the upper right corner, right next to the line of Saturn's rings.

Dione spends its time in orbit around Saturn, a venture that takes 2.7 days to complete. NASA's Cassini spacecraft picked up this view of the icy moon in June, prior to a close-up farewell flyby in August.