Mimas

Also known as Saturn I, Death Star moon

AI overview

Mimas is a small moon of Saturn that is composed mostly of water ice and may harbor a hidden ocean beneath its frozen surface. Scientists find it significant because it is the smallest celestial body known to be rounded by its own gravity, and its heavily cratered surface provides clues about the history of Saturn's moon system.

AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.

In the Vinony graph

Within Vinony's link graph, Mimas is referenced by 451 other articles, and connects out to rings of Saturn, spheroid and Mimas.

It is catalogued under topics including Astronomical objects discovered in 1789, Commons link from Wikidata and Discoveries by William Herschel.

Its subject is documented across 78 Wikipedia language editions.

Key facts

Planet.name: Mimas
Planet.mpc_name: Saturn I
Planet.pronounced: or as Greco-Latin Mimas (approximated )
Planet.adjectives: Mimantean, Mimantian (both )
Planet.named_after: Mimas, Giant in Greek mythology
Planet.image: Mimas Cassini.jpg
Planet.caption: Mimas imaged by the Cassini orbiter, February 2010, and orthographically projected. Mimas's surface is dominated by craters; the large crater at the right is Herschel
Planet.background: Thistle
Planet.discoverer: William Herschel
Planet.discovered: 17 September 1789
Planet.avg_speed: 14.28 km/s (calculated)
Planet.inclination: (to Saturn's equator)
Planet.satellite_of: Saturn
Planet.dimensions: 415.6 × 393.4 × 381.2 km(0.0311 Earths)
Planet.surface_area: –
Planet.mass: (6.3 Earths)
Planet.surface_grav: m/s2 (0.00648 g)
Planet.escape_velocity: km/s

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter: 415.6
Radius: 198.2
Mass: 37.496
Orbital period: 0.942
Image: Mimas Cassini.jpg

Show 13 more facts

Commons category: Mimas
time of discovery or invention: 1789-09-17
Commons gallery: Mimas (moon)
orbital eccentricity: 0.0196
semi-major axis of an orbit: 185520
apparent magnitude: 12.9
apoapsis: 189176
orbital inclination: 1.574
density: 1.149
albedo: 0.962
periapsis: 181902
volume as quantity: 32600000
surface gravity: 0.064

Sources (12)

via Wikidata · CC0

~10 min read

Encyclopedic overview

11 sections

Contents

Discovery and naming
Discovery
Name
Physical characteristics
Orbital resonances
Anomalous libration and subsurface ocean
Exploration
Similarities in popular culture
See also
References
External links

Mimas is the seventh-largest natural satellite of Saturn. With a mean diameter of , Mimas is the smallest astronomical body known to be roughly rounded in shape due to its own gravity. Mimas's low density, 1.15 g/cm3, indicates that it is composed mostly of water ice with only a small amount of rock, and study of Mimas's motion suggests that it may have a liquid ocean beneath its surface ice. The surface of Mimas is heavily cratered and shows little signs of recent geological activity. A notable feature of Mimas's surface is Herschel, one of the largest craters relative to the size of the parent body in the Solar System. Herschel measures across, about one-third of Mimas's mean diameter, and formed from an extremely energetic impact event. The crater's name is derived from the discoverer of Mimas, William Herschel, in 1789. The moon's presence has created one of the largest 'gaps' in Saturn's ring, named the Cassini Division, due to orbital resonance destabilising the particles' orbit there.

== Discovery and naming == === Discovery === left|thumb|upright|Portrait of William Herschel, 1785. William Herschel, discoverer of Mimas Mimas was discovered by the astronomer William Herschel on 17 September 1789. He recorded his discovery as follows:

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Mimas” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.