Mimas
Mimas — 7th Moon of Saturn
Description:
Mimas’ low density suggests that the moon is mainly composed of ice with only a small portion of rock. The most distinguishing feature on Mimas is Herschel, an impact crater with a diameter of 80 miles, nearly one third the diameter of the moon. The walls of the crater rise up almost 3 miles above the surrounding surface, and within the crater, the depth is as low 6 miles. At the center of the crater there is a mountain 4 miles high, almost as tall as Mount Everest.
It is a wonder that the impact that caused the crater Herschel did not destroy the moon completely. Fractures are visible on Mimas on the opposite side of Herschel, indicating, that the impact had the potential to disintegrate the moon. The rest of the surface is covered in craters, though no others are as large as Herschel and the cratering is not uniform across the moon. Most of the craters covering Mimas are greater than 25 miles wide, but near the South Pole, there are very few craters wider than 12 miles. Scientists are unsure what caused this uneven cratering.
Notable Features:
- Herschel: Largest crater on moon with diameter of 80 miles
- Depth: 6 miles, Height of Rim: 3 miles, Center Peak: 4 miles
- Heavily cratered surface
- Smaller craters near the South Pole
Data Category
Major: Astronomy
Minor: Saturn
Keywords:
Solar System, moon
| Data Set Name | Mimas (Saturn Moon) |
| Data Set Source | Cassini and Voyager Image details |
| Data Set Developer | Paul Schenk, Lunar and Planetary Institute NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute Steve Albers, NOAA/GSD |
| Visualization Developer | Steve Albers, NOAA/GSD |
| Audio | No |
| Download | FTP |