                        Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
      fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
                    written by a professional astronomer.

                               2022 August 13

                          Herschel Crater on Mimas
           Image Credit Cassini Imaging Team, ISS, JPL, ESA, NASA

   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.

                    Tomorrow's picture: 4,000 exoplanets
     __________________________________________________________________

       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
            NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
                NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
                      A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
                           NASA Science Activation
                             & Michigan Tech. U.

