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Collection:
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NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day Collection
Collection
NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day Collection
Collection
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Title:
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Mimas: Small Moon with a Big Crater
Title
Mimas: Small Moon with a Big Crater
Title
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Explanation:
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Mimas [ http://seds.lpl.ari…] is one of the smaller moons of Saturn [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] but shows one of the largest impact craters. In fact, if the impact had been much greater, it would have disrupted the entire satellite [ http://www.badastro…]. The large crater has been named Herschel after the 1789 discoverer of Mimas, Sir William Herschel [ http://star.arm.ac.…]. Mimas' low mass produces a surface gravity just strong enough to create a spherical body but weak enough to allow such relatively large surface features. Mimas [ http://www.hawastso…] is made of mostly water ice with a smattering of rock - so it is accurately described as a big dirty snowball. Voyager [ http://vraptor.jpl.…] 1 flew by in 1980 and took the above picture.
Explanation
Mimas [ http://seds.lpl.ari…] is one of the smaller moons of Saturn [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] but shows one of the largest impact craters. In fact, if the impact had been much greater, it would have disrupted the entire satellite [ http://www.badastro…]. The large crater has been named Herschel after the 1789 discoverer of Mimas, Sir William Herschel [ http://star.arm.ac.…]. Mimas' low mass produces a surface gravity just strong enough to create a spherical body but weak enough to allow such relatively large surface features. Mimas [ http://www.hawastso…] is made of mostly water ice with a smattering of rock - so it is accurately described as a big dirty snowball. Voyager [ http://vraptor.jpl.…] 1 flew by in 1980 and took the above picture. Explanation
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Credit and Copyright:
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Credit_and_Copyright
Credit and Copyright
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keyword:
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moon
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keyword:
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Saturn
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keyword:
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Mimas
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facet_when:
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1980
facet_when
1980
facet_when
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facet_where:
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Arizona
facet_where
Arizona
facet_where
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facet_where:
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Saturn
facet_where
Saturn
facet_where
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facet_where:
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Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC)
facet_where
Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC)
facet_where
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facet_where:
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Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)
facet_where
Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)
facet_where
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facet_what:
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Voyager
facet_what
Voyager
facet_what
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facet_what:
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Moon
facet_what
Moon
facet_what
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facet_what:
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Saturn
facet_what
Saturn
facet_what
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facet_what:
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Crater
facet_what
Crater
facet_what
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facet_what:
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Mimas
facet_what
Mimas
facet_what
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facet_what:
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crater
facet_what
crater
facet_what
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facet_what:
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moon
facet_what
moon
facet_what
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facet_when_year:
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1980
facet_when_year
1980
facet_when_year
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original url:
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original_url
original url
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UID:
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SPD-APOD-ap990425
UID
SPD-APOD-ap990425
UID
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