![](\"https:\/\/cdn.rt.com\/files\/2017.01\/thumbnail\/58772116c46188603d8b4574.jpg\")
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On its closest-ever flyby of Saturn\u2019s moon Mimas, NASA\u2019s Cassini spacecraft has captured what may be the most detailed image to date of the celestial body. <\/p>\n
In a picture released on NASA\u2019s website<\/a>, it\u2019s not hard to see how Mimas got its nickname \u2013 the enormous Herschel Crater dominates both its surface and the image, making the icy moon look like the Death Star, a fictional mobile space station \/ galactic super-weapon created by the \u201cStar Wars<\/em>\u201d movie franchise.\u00a0<\/p>\n The image was originally taken<\/a>\u00a0on October 22, 2016 at a distance of 185,000 kilometers (115,000 miles), yet NASA only released it this week.<\/p>\n Shadows cast across the Crater provide a visible indication of the size of the crater\u2019s towering walls and central peak. Named after the moon\u2019s discoverer, astronomer William Herschel, the crater is known to stretch 139 kilometers (86 miles) wide, which is nearly one-third the diameter of Mimas itself. Herschel\u2019s peak stands nearly as tall as Mount Everest on Earth.\u00a0<\/p>\n READ MORE:\u00a0Saturn\u2019s moon Pandora captured up close by NASA\u2019s Cassini spacecraft (PHOTO)<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Scientists still can\u2019t say for sure what created this mysterious formation, and continue studying both the impact basin and its surrounding terrain. Their research earned Mimas yet another comparison \u2013 observing thermal data obtained by Cassini’s composite infrared spectrometer last year, they spotted features shaped like the 1980s video game icon \u201cPac-Man.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0<\/p>\n This time around, the image was taken with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera using a combination of spectral filters, with the view acquired at a distance of 185,000 kilometers (115,000 miles) from Mimas.<\/p>\n It is the latest in a series of pictures from Cassini, which has been sending back stunning images of Saturn\u2019s rings and moons.\u00a0<\/p>\n This one, for instance, shows Saturn\u2019s rings and moons illuminated by what is known as \u201cSaturnshine<\/em>,\u201d or light reflected off of Saturn.<\/p>\n The picture below is a rare sight for us Earthlings: while we are used to seeing a single crescent moon in the sky, with Saturn\u2019s many moons, three or even more can be seen.\u00a0<\/p>\n READ MORE:\u00a0Pull on Pluto\u2019s \u2018icy heart\u2019 shifted dwarf planet\u2019s axis \u2013 studies<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency, and the Italian Space Agency. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras were designed, developed, and assembled at JPL to explore the Saturn system, its magnetosphere, rings, and moons, with special focus on Titan.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Via RT<\/a>. This piece was reprinted by RINF Alternative News<\/a> with permission or license.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" On its closest-ever flyby of Saturn\u2019s moon Mimas, NASA\u2019s Cassini spacecraft has captured what may be the most detailed image to date of the celestial body. In a picture released on NASA\u2019s website, it\u2019s not hard to see how Mimas got its nickname \u2013 the enormous Herschel Crater dominates both its surface and the image, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":289715,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[519],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-289713","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-newswire"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/289713","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=289713"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/289713\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/289715"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=289713"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=289713"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=289713"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}