Mimas: Small Moon with a Big Crater
Explanation:
Mimas is one of the smaller moons of
Saturn but shows one of the
largest impact craters.
In fact, if the impact had been much greater, it would have
disrupted the entire
satellite.
The large crater has been named Herschel
after the 1789 discoverer of Mimas,
Sir
William Herschel. 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.
Voyager 1
flew by in 1980 and took the
above picture.
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.
