How small is Mimas?

How small is Mimas?

Overview. Less than 123 miles (198 kilometers) in mean radius, crater-covered Mimas is the smallest and innermost of Saturn’s major moons. It is not quite big enough to hold a round shape, so it is somewhat ovoid with dimensions of 129 x 122 x 119 miles (207 x 197 x 191 kilometers, respectively).

Is Mimas bigger than Earth?

With a mean radius of 198.2 ± 0.4 km and a mass of about 3.75 ×1019 kg, Mimas is equivalent in size to 0.0311 Earths and 0.0000063 times as massive. Orbiting Saturn at an average distance (semi-major axis) of 185,539 km, it is the innermost of Saturn’s larger moons, and the 8th moon orbiting Saturn.

Is Mimas bigger than the moon?

Discovered in 1789 by Herschel. Mimas’ low density (1.17) indicates that it is composed mostly of water ice with only a small amount of rock. The surface of Mimas is dominated by an impact crater 130 km across, known as Herschel; it’s almost 1/3 of the diameter of the entire moon.

What is Mimas composed of?

The mean density of Mimas is only 1.15 times that of water, and its surface is primarily water frost. For these reasons, Mimas is believed to be composed principally of ice. It is very bright, reflecting more than 80 percent of sunlight falling on it.

Why is Mimas called the Death Star?

Mimas, Saturn’s cryptic-looking moon, is awfully deceptive. The small moon is dominated by an 80-mile-wide crater, giving it the appearance of the grim Star Wars Death Star — a space station equipped with a planet-destroying weapon.

What makes Mimas special?

Mimas is an icy moon that’s 246 miles wide and whose most distinctive feature is the 88-mile-wide Herschel crater – a giant Cyclops-like indentation that makes the moon resemble the planet-obliterating superweapon from “Star Wars” that’s known as the Death Star.

Is Earth bigger than Titan?

Because Titan is less massive than Earth, its gravity doesn’t hold onto its gaseous envelope as tightly, so the atmosphere extends to an altitude 10 times higher than Earth’s—nearly 370 miles (600 kilometers) into space.

What is the largest Super Earth?

Kepler-145b is one of the most massive planets classified as mega-Earths, with a mass of 37.1 M Earth and a radius of 2.65 R Earth, so large that it could belong to a sub-category of mega-Earths known as supermassive terrestrial planets (SMTP).

Is Titan bigger than Pluto?

Titan is larger than the planet Mercury and more massive than Pluto, and, in significant ways, it resembles a planet more than it does a typical moon.

What is the heaviest moon?

With a diameter of about 5,270 kilometres (3,270 mi) and a mass of 1.48×1020 tonnes (1.48×1023 kg; 3.26×1023 lb), Ganymede is the largest and most massive moon in the Solar System.

Was Death Star based on Mimas?

In popular culture. When seen from certain angles, Mimas resembles the Death Star, a fictional space station and superweapon known from the 1977 film Star Wars.

What is heavier than the moon?

The moon’s mass is 7.35 x 1022 kg, about 1.2% of Earth’s mass. Put another way, Earth weighs 81 times more than the moon. The moon’s density is 3.34 grams per cubic centimeter (3.34 g/cm3).

Is Mimas the smallest moon in the solar system?

Mimas [MY-mas] is the seventh of Saturn’s known moons in order of orbit and is also the seventh largest. It is the 20th largest moon in the Solar System and is the thought to be the smallest to have its shape rounded by its own gravity.

How long is a day on Mimas?

One day on Mimas is equal to 23 hours.

What are lunar maria mainly made of?

(Together with the bright lunar highlands, they form the face of the “man in the moon.”) Samples of lunar rock and soil brought back by Apollo astronauts proved that the maria are composed of basalt formed from surface lava flows that later congealed.

Why is Mimas weird inside?

There’s something strange going on below the surface of Saturn’s Death Star-looking moon Mimas, a new study suggests. Mimas’ rotation and its orbit around Saturn make the moon look like it’s rocking and back forth and oscillating similar to the way a pendulum swings. That rocking motion is called libration.

Who ran the first Death Star?

As a loyal protégé of Supreme Chancellor Palpatine, Tarkin became one of the most ardent supporters of the newly declared Empire. Palpatine put Tarkin in charge of construction of the Death Star, a secret project that would take nearly two decades to complete.

Why does the face of Mimas face Saturn?

Like a lot of moons in the solar system, including our own, Mimas always shows essentially the same face to its parent planet. This is called a spin-orbit resonance, meaning the moon’s rotation, or spin, is in sync with its orbit around Saturn.

How big is the moon Mimas?

Is Mimas the smallest moon in the Solar System?

Mimas [MY-mas] is the seventh of Saturn’s known moons in order of orbit and is also the seventh largest. It is the 20th largest moon in the Solar System and is the thought to be the smallest to have its shape rounded by its own gravity.

Is Miranda the smallest moon?

Of the five Uranian moons known before Voyager 2 visited the planet, Miranda is the smallest and closest to the planet.

How big is Titan vs moon?

Size and Distance Titan has a radius of about 1,600 miles (2,575 kilometers), and is nearly 50 percent wider than Earth’s moon.