Posted on 02/15/2005 10:35:40 PM PST by ambrose
Saturn's moon is the double of Star Wars space station
David Adam, science correspondent
Tuesday February 15, 2005
Guardian
That's no moon, it's a space station. Actually it's Saturn's satellite Mimas, which bears an uncanny resemblance to the Death Star - the planet-destroying space station in the film Star Wars. Scientists at Nasa's jet propulsion laboratory in California have released a new image of Mimas, which was snapped by the Cassini spacecraft in orbit around the ringed planet.
Mimas is one of the innermost moons of Saturn. Its most prominent feature is a giant crater some 6 miles deep and 80 miles across, covering almost a third of the moon's diameter, probably caused by an enormous asteroid impact.
Traces of fracture marks can be seen on the opposite side. If the asteroid had been bigger or faster, the moon would probably have been split in two.
At the centre of the crater is a central mountain almost as high as Mount Everest. It was also formed by the asteroid impact when pulverised and molten material rebounded upwards like a splashing water droplet.
The moon's surface is icy and heavily cratered. Far from the warmth of the sun, it has a temperature about -200C and scientists think its low density means it consists mostly of ice.
Most of the craters on Mimas are named after characters in Camelot, but the biggest was christened Herschel after Sir William Herschel, the astronomer who discovered Mimas in 1789, Uranus in 1781 and invented the word asteroid. Mimas was a Titan slain by Hercules in Greek mythology.
Mimas's similarity to the Death Star was first noticed when the twin Voyager spacecraft flew past Saturn in 1980 and 1981.
The new picture was taken on 16 January when Cassini was about 132,000 miles away.
So... when do the stormtroopers arrive?
Oooh, OOOOOH - watch out, we're gonna be Alderaaned! Move every zig, etc. etc...
This is so cool.
It really is the Death Star - the Illuminati are just waiting for the right time to put it to use.
Thanks for the pics.
Man, I love this stuff!
YUP, it sure would have been Bush's fault
May the Force be with you...Always.
May the Force be with you...Always.
My boys will enjoy this.
As big a coincidence as Swift's moons of Mars.
Resembles a Golf Ball with one big dimple...Amazing stuff out there.
I knew this 15 years ago. However, now FreeRepublic is the Deathstar to liberal "sensibilites."
The real death star is Iapetus, according to the space wacko Richard C. Hoagland:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1338415/posts
And what happens to the two pieces? Do they float off away from each other, or does gravity pull them back together?
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