Cassini Images "Death Star" Moon

Image Advisory: 2005-129 August 5, 2005



Cassini Flies by Saturn's Tortured Moon Mimas

On its recent close flyby of Mimas, the Cassini spacecraft found the Saturnian moon looking battered and bruised, with a surface that may be the most heavily cratered in the Saturn system.

The Aug. 2 flyby of Saturn's 'Death Star' moon returned eye-catching images of its most distinctive feature, the spectacular 140-kilometer diameter (87-mile) landslide-filled Hershel crater. Numerous rounded and worn-out craters, craters within other craters and long grooves reminiscent of those seen on asteroids are also seen in the new images.

The new Mimas images are available at saturn.jpl.nasa.gov , www.nasa.gov/cassini and ciclops.org . Also available is an approach movie showing Mimas, and a zoom and pan across the surface of one of the highest resolution images.

Deirdre Kelleghan
SOC

Thanks for that.