--- title: Saturn's Moon Tethys Shows Mysterious Red Stripes description: Scientists aren't sure what they are canonical: https://time.com/3977849/saturn-moon-tethys-red-lines/ author: NBC News article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-07-29T21:19:32.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T09:43:48.384Z article:section: Science og:title: Mysterious Red Lines Spotted on Saturn's Moon og:description: Scientists aren't sure what they are og:url: https://time.com/3977849/saturn-moon-tethys-red-lines/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc967eec387df2dc2/69885d22f887dcdb93e919d3/tethys2.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: tethys2 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Mysterious Red Lines Spotted on Saturn's Moon twitter:description: Scientists aren't sure what they are twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc967eec387df2dc2/69885d22f887dcdb93e919d3/tethys2.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Mysterious Red Lines Spotted on Saturn's Moon by [NBC News](https://time.com/author/nbc-news/) ## NBC News Jul 29, 2015 9:19 PM UTC  Tethys, one of Saturn's moons Tethys, one of Saturn's moonsNASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute by [NBC News](https://time.com/author/nbc-news/) ## NBC News Jul 29, 2015 9:19 PM UTC NASA’s Cassini spacecraft has discovered strange red lines stretching across the surface of Saturn’s icy moon Tethys. What are they? Scientists aren’t sure. They could be areas of exposed ice with chemical impurities, according to NASA, or the result of gas being released from within the moon. “The red arcs must be geologically young because they cut across older features like impact craters, but we don’t know their age in years,”[ said Cassini imaging scientist Paul Helfenstein](http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=4671). “If the stain is only a thin, colored veneer on the icy soil, exposure to the space environment at Tethys’ surface might erase … [Read more from our partners at NBC News](http://www.nbcnews.com/science/space/mysterious-red-arcs-found-saturn-moon-tethys-n400501?cid=par-time-article%5F20150729) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3977849/saturn-moon-tethys-red-lines/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3977849/saturn-moon-tethys-red-lines/"},"headline":"Mysterious Red Lines Spotted on Saturn's Moon","datePublished":"2015-07-29T21:19:32.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T09:43:48.384Z","description":"Scientists aren't sure what they are","url":"https://time.com/3977849/saturn-moon-tethys-red-lines/","keywords":["A Year In Space","Space"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc967eec387df2dc2/69885d22f887dcdb93e919d3/tethys2.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"NBC News","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/nbc-news/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc967eec387df2dc2/69885d22f887dcdb93e919d3/tethys2.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"tethys2","caption":"Tethys, one of Saturn's moons","creditText":"NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/science/","name":"Science"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/a-year-in-space/","name":"A Year In Space"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3977849/saturn-moon-tethys-red-lines/","name":"Mysterious Red Lines Spotted on Saturn's Moon"}}]}] ```