Changes

|caption=Bright cliffs on Dione, taken by spacecraft [[Cassini Huygens Mission|Cassini]]

|caption=Bright cliffs on Dione, taken by spacecraft [[Cassini Huygens Mission|Cassini]]

|date=March 21, 1684<ref name=usgs>"[http://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/append7.html Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature: Planetary Body Names and Discoverers]." US Geological Survey, Jennifer Blue, ed. March 31, 2008. Accessed April 17, 2008.</ref>

|date=March 21, 1684<ref name=usgs>"[http://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/append7.html Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature: Planetary Body Names and Discoverers]." US Geological Survey, Jennifer Blue, ed. March 31, 2008. Accessed April 17, 2008.</ref>

|discname=[[Giovanni Delano Cassini]]<ref name=usgs/>

|discname=[[Giovanni Domenico Cassini]]<ref name=usgs/>

|origname=Titaness, sister of Kronos, mother (by Zeus) of Aphrodite<ref name=usgs/>

|origname=Titaness, sister of Kronos, mother (by Zeus) of Aphrodite<ref name=usgs/>

|primary=Saturn

|primary=Saturn

== Discovery and naming ==

== Discovery and naming ==

[[Giovanni Delano Cassini]] discovered Dione, along with the moons [[Tethys (moon)|Tethys]], [[Rhea (moon)|Rhea]], and [[Iapetus (moon)|Iapetus]], in the latter half of the seventeenth century, during the reign of "Sun-King" [[Louis XIV]] of [[France]].<ref name=usgs/> Cassini named these moons the "Sidera Lodoicea" in honor of the king. Later generations (especially after the French Revolution) would not retain such regal flattery.<ref name=Boulay>Boulay, J. C. "[http://jcboulay.free.fr/astro/sommaire/astronomie/univers/galaxie/etoile/systeme_solaire/saturne/satellites/page_saturne_satellites1.htm Saturne: les satellites]." ''Astronomie-astronautique''. Accessed June 5, 2008.</ref>

[[Giovanni Domenico Cassini]] discovered Dione, along with the moons [[Tethys (moon)|Tethys]], [[Rhea (moon)|Rhea]], and [[Iapetus (moon)|Iapetus]], in the latter half of the seventeenth century, during the reign of "Sun-King" [[Louis XIV]] of [[France]].<ref name=usgs/> Cassini named these moons the "Sidera Lodoicea" in honor of the king. Later generations (especially after the French Revolution) would not retain such regal flattery.<ref name=Boulay>Boulay, J. C. "[http://jcboulay.free.fr/astro/sommaire/astronomie/univers/galaxie/etoile/systeme_solaire/saturne/satellites/page_saturne_satellites1.htm Saturne: les satellites]." ''Astronomie-astronautique''. Accessed June 5, 2008.</ref>

Sir John Herschel, son of the astronomer [[William Herschel]], suggested the current names of the seven largest satellites of Saturn, including Rhea. [[Titan (moon)|Titan]] received a generic name, and the other six received names of the Titans of mythology. Dione was the sister of Kronos or Cronus and mother (by Zeus) of Aphrodite.<ref name=Lasell>Lassell, William. "[http://articles.adsabs.harvard.edu/full/seri/MNRAS/0008//0000042.000.html Satellites of Saturn]." ''Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society'', 8(3):42-43, January 14, 1848. Accessed June 4, 2008.</ref>

Sir John Herschel, son of the astronomer [[William Herschel]], suggested the current names of the seven largest satellites of Saturn, including Rhea. [[Titan (moon)|Titan]] received a generic name, and the other six received names of the Titans of mythology. Dione was the sister of Kronos or Cronus and mother (by Zeus) of Aphrodite.<ref name=Lasell>Lassell, William. "[http://articles.adsabs.harvard.edu/full/seri/MNRAS/0008//0000042.000.html Satellites of Saturn]." ''Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society'', 8(3):42-43, January 14, 1848. Accessed June 4, 2008.</ref>