by APOD Robot » Mon May 31, 2021 4:05 am
Mimas: Small Moon with a Big Crater
Explanation: Whatever hit Mimas nearly destroyed it. What remains is one of the
largest impact craters on one of
Saturn's smallest round moons.
Analysis indicates that a slightly larger impact would have destroyed
Mimas entirely. The huge crater, named
Herschel after the 1789 discoverer of Mimas,
Sir William Herschel, spans about 130 kilometers and is
featured here.
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
featured image was taken during the closest-ever flyby of the
robot spacecraft Cassini past Mimas in 2010 while in orbit
around Saturn.
[url=https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap210531.html] [img]https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/S_210531.jpg[/img] [size=150]Mimas: Small Moon with a Big Crater[/size][/url]
[b] Explanation: [/b] Whatever hit Mimas nearly destroyed it. What remains is one of the [url=https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap960906.html]largest impact craters[/url] on one of [url=https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/saturn/overview/]Saturn[/url]'s smallest round moons. [url=https://sos.noaa.gov/datasets/mimas-saturns-moon/]Analysis indicates[/url] that a slightly larger impact would have destroyed [url=https://trek.nasa.gov/mimas/]Mimas[/url] entirely. The huge crater, named [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herschel_Space_Observatory]Herschel[/url] after the 1789 discoverer of Mimas, [url=https://www.astroleague.org/al/obsclubs/herschel/fwhershs.html]Sir William Herschel[/url], spans about 130 kilometers and is [url=https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA12570]featured here[/url]. [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mimas_(moon)]Mimas[/url]' low mass produces a [url=https://www.exploratorium.edu/ronh/weight/]surface gravity[/url] just strong enough to create a [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_star]spherical body[/url] but weak enough to allow such relatively large surface features. [url=https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/moons/saturn-moons/mimas/in-depth/]Mimas[/url] is made of mostly water ice with a smattering of rock - so it is accurately described as a big dirty snowball. The [url=https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA12570]featured image[/url] was taken during the closest-ever flyby of the [url=https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/missions/cassini/mission/spacecraft/cassini-orbiter/]robot spacecraft Cassini[/url] past Mimas in 2010 while in orbit [url=https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap200419.html]around Saturn[/url].
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