Credit: NASA
The might of The Empire is stuck in rotation around Saturn
You read that right, folks. One of Saturn’s moons, Mimas is an almost spitting image of the Death Star from “Star Wars.” And it’s unlike any other moon in the entire solar system.
Discovered in 1789 by English astronomer Sir William Herschel, Mimas has one of the most heavily cratered surfaces of any moon in the solar system. The craters range from 12.5-25 miles in diameter across the moon, all except for one. The big bulls-eye crater, called the Herschel crater, is 88 miles wide, covering a huge portion of the satellite.
The similarity is purely coincidental, however. While its craters are huge, the moon was small enough that details on the surface weren’t noticed until 1980, three years after “Star Wars: A New Hope” premiered in theaters.
The second photo shows the daytime temperature readings of the moon, which take a Pac-Man shape.
Dylan is the kind of person who never ceases to watch the stars. Follow him on Twitter – @Rastaman0318
