Image: Mimas shape
Description: en:Saturn's moon Mimas, whose low density suggests that it is primarily composed of ice, has a flattened or en:oblate shape reminiscent of Saturn's (see PIA05389). The moon's en:equatorial dimension is nearly 10 percent larger than the polar one due to the satellite's rapid rotation. Mimas is 397 en:kilometres (247 en:miles) across. This view shows principally the leading hemisphere on Mimas. Mimas' largest crater, Herschel (130 kilometers, or 80 miles wide), is centered roughly on the equator and can be seen here. North on Mimas is toward upper left. The moon's oblateness is exaggerated by Cassini's viewing angle here -- the en:Sun-Mimas-spacecraft, or phase, angle was 5 degrees leaving a sliver of the moon's disk in shadow on the northwest limb. The image was taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on en:May 20, en:2005, at a distance of approximately 916,000 kilometers (569,000 miles) from Mimas. Resolution in the original image was 5 kilometers (3 miles) per en:pixel. The image has been contrast-enhanced and magnified by a factor of two to aid visibility.
Title: Mimas shape
Credit: http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov/multimedia/images/image-details.cfm?imageID=1588 Transferred from en.wikipedia to Commons.
Author: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute
Usage Terms: Public domain
License: Public domain
Attribution Required?: No
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