Astronomy Picture of the Day
    


Mimas: Small Moon with a Big Crater
<< Yesterday 21.10.2014 Tomorrow >>
Mimas: Small Moon with a Big Crater
Credit & Copyright: Cassini Imaging Team, ISS, JPL, ESA, NASA; Digital Processing: Supportstorm
Explanation: Whatever hit Mimas nearly destroyed it. What remains is one of the largest impact craters on one of Saturn's smallest moons. The crater, named Herschel after the 1789 discoverer of Mimas, Sir William Herschel, spans about 130 kilometers and is pictured above. Mimas' low mass produces a surface gravity just strong enough to create a spherical body but weak enough to allow such relatively large surface features. Mimas is made of mostly water ice with a smattering of rock - so it is accurately described as a big dirty snowball. The above image was taken during the 2005 August flyby of the robot spacecraft Cassini now in orbit around Saturn. A recent analysis of Mimas's unusual wobble indicates that it might house a liquid water interior ocean.

Follow APOD on: Facebook, Google Plus, or Twitter

January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December
 < October 2014  >
Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa Su


12345
6789101112
13141516171819
20212223242526
2728293031

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.

Based on Astronomy Picture Of the Day

Publications with keywords: Mimas - Saturn
Publications with words: Mimas - Saturn
See also:
All publications on this topic >>