Astronomy Picture of the Day -- Mimas: Small Moon with a Big Crater

NASA ^ | October 21, 2014 | (see photo credit)

[SunkenCiv]

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 2010 February 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.

[SunkenCiv]

[Credit: Cassini Imaging Team, ISS, JPL, ESA, NASA; Digital Processing: Supportstorm]

[SunkenCiv]

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[Crazieman]

[KoRn]

lol Looks kind of like the Death Star.

[BenLurkin]

There’s another moon out there like this too...how is it they weren’t destroyed by these impacts?

[G Larry]

I usually get a new ball before they’re chewed up that bad.

[Damifino]

[Jack Hydrazine]

Don't forget Iapetus!

[Diana in Wisconsin]

“There’s another moon out there like this too...how is it they weren’t destroyed by these impacts?”

Ever try to crack a Jawbreaker when you were a kid? Same density. ;)

[SunkenCiv]

“Mimas” might be a good name for a brand, good idea!

[SunkenCiv]

Note: this topic is from 10/26/2014.

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