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Affichage des articles dont le libellé est ASTRONOMY - Mimas: Small Moon with a Big Crater. Afficher tous les articles
Affichage des articles dont le libellé est ASTRONOMY - Mimas: Small Moon with a Big Crater. Afficher tous les articles

31/05/2021

ASTRONOMY - Mimas: Small Moon with a Big Crater

 2021 May 31

The picture shows Saturn's Moon Mimas featuring a very large circular crater.
Please see the explanation for more detailed information.

Mimas: Small Moon with a Big Crater
Image Credit & Copyright: NASAJPL-CaltechSpace Science InstituteCassini

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 hereMimas' 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.

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