Herschel Crater on Mimas
Explanation:
Mimas,
small 400 kilometer-diameter moon of Saturn,
is host to 130 kilometer-diameter
Herschel crater,
one of the larger impact craters in the entire Solar System.
The robotic
Cassini spacecraft
orbiting Saturn in 2010 recorded
this startling view
of small moon and big crater while making
a 10,000-kilometer record close pass by the diminutive
icy world.
Shown in contrast-enhanced false color, the image data
reveal more clearly that Herschel's landscape is colored
slightly differently from
heavily cratered terrain nearby.
The color difference could yield surface composition clues to the
violent
history of Mimas.
Of course,
an impact
on Mimas any larger than the one that created the 130-kilometer
Herschel might
have destroyed
the small
moon of Saturn.
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.
