Merdeka.com – Saturn is the second largest planet in solar system. This planet, nicknamed the gas giant, is up to 120,536 km in diameter with hydrogen and helium as its main constituents. In addition to its large shape, Saturn is also known to have the largest number of satellites in the solar system.
The sixth planet in the solar system is said to have 82 satellites. Although about 29 satellites of this number are still being studied, as many as 53 of Saturn’s satellites have been confirmed by astronomers. Among the number of confirmed satellites, one of them is Mimas.
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According to the story, the Mimas satellite was first discovered by an English astronomer William Herschel, in September 17, 1789. Exactly today, the Mimas satellite is 233 years old since it was first discovered. Uniquely, although it was discovered by William Herschel, the name Mimas was actually given by William’s son, John Herschel.
Not just the name, this satellite also has a variety of no less unique features. Starting from its shape, the nature of its density, to the craters on its surface. For those of you interested in the world of astronomy, listening to the various features of the Mimas satellite is certainly one of the interesting things.
Reporting from the Solar System page of NASA, here we summarize a brief history of the events of September 17, the discovery of the satellite Saturn and its characteristics, you can see.
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Mimas discovered the history and the denomination
Satellite Mimas, discovered on September 17, 1789 by the British astronomer William Herschel. At that time, William Herschel using a 40-foot reflecting telescope, then saw Mimas as a point until Voyagers I and II managed to capture it in 1980. The Cassini spacecraft then made several close approaches and was able to take a sharp image of Mima.
Although discovered by William Herschel, the name Mimas was given by his son, John Herschel. In this regard, John explains the name Mimas by writing: “When Saturn devours his children, his family cannot gather around him, so the choice is between his brothers, the Titans”.
The name is quite appropriate in Greek mythology, where Mimas is a giant killed by Mars in the war between the Titans and the Olympians. In addition to being known as Mimas, this satellite also has the nickname “Saturn I” due to its closest distance to Saturn.
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Mimas Characteristics of the satellite
After knowing the story of the event on September 17 in which the satellite Mimas of Saturn was found and the origin of its name, the latter will explain the unique characteristics of this satellite of Saturn I. With less than 123 miles (198 kilometers) of medium radius, Mimas, covered with craters, is the smallest and deepest major moons of Saturn.
These satellites are not large enough to be spherical in shape, so they are simply ovoid in shape with dimensions of 129 x 122 x 119 miles (207 x 197 x 191 kilometers each). Its low density indicates that almost all of Mimas juice is made up of ice water, which is nothing more than the only substance ever detected in Mimas.
At an average distance of more than 186,000 kilometers from major planets, Mimas takes just 22 hours and 36 minutes to complete one orbit. When orbiting Saturn, the face of the Mimas satellite faces Saturn, just as the Moon orbits the Earth.
Most of Mimas’s surface is saturated with impact craters measuring more than 40 kilometers in diameter. However, the craters in Mimas’ South Pole are generally 20 kilometers or less in diameter. This suggests that some melting occurs more slowly than in other parts of the moon.
Its most distinguishing feature is the gigantic impact crater, named after Herschel to the discoverer of the moon that covers a third of the lunar surface, making it look like the Death Star in the “Star Wars” movies. The Herschel crater is 80 miles (130 kilometers) wide, one third the diameter of the moon itself, with an outer wall about 5 kilometers high and a central peak 6 kilometers high.
When viewed more clearly, Mimas appears confusedly frozen solid because Mimas is closer to Saturn and has a much more eccentric (elongated) orbit than Enceladus. This means that Mimas has more tidal warming than Enceladus. But Enceladus is equipped with water geysers, which involve internal heat, while Mimas has the most cratered surface in the solar system.
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