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View Full Version : Picture of the Day: Saturn Moon Mimas



ilan
08-06-2019, 11:38 PM
Astronomy Picture of the Day
NASA Release | 6 August 2019





https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/1908/MimasPIA17213.jpg
Mimas in Saturnlight
Image Credit: Cassini Imaging Team, SSI, JPL, ESA, NASA



Peering from the shadows, the Saturn-facing hemisphere of Mimas lies in near darkness alongside a dramatic sunlit crescent. The mosaic was captured near the Cassini spacecraft's final close approach on January 30, 2017. Cassini's camera was pointed in a nearly sunward direction only 45,000 kilometers from Mimas. The result is one of the highest resolution views of the icy, crater-pocked, 400 kilometer diameter moon. An enhanced version better reveals the Saturn-facing hemisphere of the synchronously rotating moon lit by sunlight reflected from Saturn itself. Other Cassini images of Mimas include the small moon's large and ominous Herschel Crater.