* Astronomy

Blobrana · L

RE: Mimas

Blobrana · L

Title: The rotation of Mimas
Authors: Benoît Noyelles, Özgür Karatekin, Nicolas Rambaux

The Cassini mission in the Saturnian system is an outstanding opportunity to improve our knowledge of the satellites of Saturn. The data obtained thanks to this mission must be confronted to theoretical models. This paper aims at modelling the rotation of Mimas, with respect to its possible internal structure. For that, we first build different interior models, in considering Mimas as composed of 2 rigid layers with different porosity. Then we simulate the rotational behaviour of these models in a 3-degree of freedom numerical code, in considering complete ephemerides of a Mimas whose rotation is disturbed by Saturn. We also estimate the deviation of its longitudinal orientation due to tides. We expect a signature of the internal structure up to 0.53° in the longitudinal librations and an obliquity between 2 and 3 arcmin, the exact values depending on the interior. The longitudinal librations should be detectable, inverting them to get clues on the internal structure of Mimas is challenging.

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Blobrana · L

The Cassini spacecraft in orbit around Saturn has caught an interesting new view of the tiny moon Mimas.
The probe measured temperature differences across the object's surface and produced a map that looks just like the 1980s Pac-Man video games icon.
Scientists are unsure why Mimas should display such variations but say it is probably related to the diversity of textures in the surface materials.
Some textures may retain heat better than others, they explain.
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Blobrana · L

The highest-resolution-yet temperature map and images of Saturn's icy moon Mimas obtained by NASA's Cassini spacecraft reveal surprising patterns on the surface of the small moon, including unexpected hot regions that resemble "Pac-Man" eating a dot, and striking bands of light and dark in crater walls.
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Blobrana · L

This image of Mimas was captured by the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on the 13th February, 2010, using the UV2 and CL2 spectral filters. The view was acquired at a distance of approximately 20,032 kilometres from the moon.

mimas

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Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute

Blobrana · L

Cassini probe zips past Saturn's "Death Star" moon

The international Cassini spacecraft's weekend plunge past Saturn's moon Mimas has returned intriguing images of the "Death Star"-look-alike orb, NASA says. Flying about 5,900 miles high, the spacecraft took close images of the 88-mile-wide Herschel crater that marks the 246-mile-wide moon's surface.
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Blobrana · L

This image of Mimas was captured by the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on the 14th February, 2010, using the CL1 and IR1 spectral filters. The view was acquired at a distance of approximately 177,266 kilometres from the moon.

mimas

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Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute

Blobrana · L

This image of Mimas was captured by the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on the 13th February, 2010, using the CL1 and VIO spectral filters. The view was acquired at a distance of approximately 15,255 kilometres from the moon.

mimas

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Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute

Blobrana · L

This image of Mimas was captured by the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on the 13th February, 2010, using the CL1 and IR1 spectral filters. The view was acquired at a distance of approximately 70,161 kilometres from the moon.

mimas

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Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute

Blobrana · L

This image of Mimas was captured by the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on the 13th February, 2010, using the CL1 and CL2 spectral filters. The view was acquired at a distance of approximately 30,024 kilometres from the moon.

mimas

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Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute