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Closest Ever: NASA Captures Image Of Saturn’s Spooky ‘Death Star’ Moon


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Closest Ever: NASA Captures Image Of Saturn’s Spooky ‘Death Star’ Moon

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On its closest-ever flyby of Saturn’s moon Mimas, NASA’s Cassini spacecraft has captured what may be the most detailed image to date of the celestial body.

In a picture released on NASA’s website, it’s not hard to see how Mimas got its nickname – 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 “Star Wars” movie franchise. The image was originally taken on October 22, 2016 at a distance of 185,000 kilometers (115,000 miles), yet NASA only released it this week.Shadows cast across the Crater provide a visible indication of the size of the crater’s towering walls and central peak. Named after the moon’s 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’s peak stands nearly as tall as Mount Everest on Earth. 

http://rinf.com/alt-news/newswire/closest-ever-nasa-captures-image-of-saturns-spooky-death-star-moon/

 

 
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