Herschel (Mimantean Crater)
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Herschel () is the largest
impact crater An impact crater is a depression (geology), depression in the surface of a solid astronomical body formed by the hypervelocity impact event, impact of a smaller object. In contrast to volcanic craters, which result from explosion or internal c ...
on the
Saturn Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second largest in the Solar System, after Jupiter. It is a gas giant, with an average radius of about 9 times that of Earth. It has an eighth the average density of Earth, but is over 95 tim ...
ian moon Mimas. It is located on Mimas's leading hemisphere, centered on the equator at 112°
longitude Longitude (, ) is a geographic coordinate that specifies the east- west position of a point on the surface of the Earth, or another celestial body. It is an angular measurement, usually expressed in degrees and denoted by the Greek lett ...
. It is named after the 18th-century astronomer
William Herschel Frederick William Herschel ( ; ; 15 November 1738 – 25 August 1822) was a German-British astronomer and composer. He frequently collaborated with his younger sister and fellow astronomer Caroline Herschel. Born in the Electorate of Hanover ...
, who discovered Mimas in 1789.


Geology

Herschel is the second-largest crater relative to its parent body of any
equilibrium Equilibrium may refer to: Film and television * ''Equilibrium'' (film), a 2002 science fiction film * '' The Story of Three Loves'', also known as ''Equilibrium'', a 1953 romantic anthology film * "Equilibrium" (''seaQuest 2032'') * ''Equilibr ...
planetary moon in the Solar System after Tethys's crater
Odysseus In Greek mythology, Greek and Roman mythology, Odysseus ( ; , ), also known by the Latin variant Ulysses ( , ; ), is a legendary Greeks, Greek king of Homeric Ithaca, Ithaca and the hero of Homer's Epic poetry, epic poem, the ''Odyssey''. Od ...
.Craters on small moons such as Stickney may be comparably larg

the moons of
dwarf planet A dwarf planet is a small planetary-mass object that is in direct orbit around the Sun, massive enough to be hydrostatic equilibrium, gravitationally rounded, but insufficient to achieve clearing the neighbourhood, orbital dominance like the ...
s have not been imaged. It is so large that astronomers have expressed surprise that Mimas was not shattered by the impact that caused it. It measures across, almost one third the diameter of Mimas. Its walls are approximately high, parts of its floor are deep, and its central peak rises above the crater floor.


Origin

The impact that formed Herschel must have nearly disrupted Mimas entirely. Large chasms (termed ''
chasma In planetary nomenclature, a chasma (''plural'': chasmata ) is a deep, elongated, steep-sided Depression (geology), depression. As of 2020, the International Astronomical Union, IAU has named 122 such features in the Solar System, on Venus (63), ...
ta'') that may be stress fractures due to
shock wave In physics, a shock wave (also spelled shockwave), or shock, is a type of propagating disturbance that moves faster than the local speed of sound in the medium. Like an ordinary wave, a shock wave carries energy and can propagate through a me ...
s from the impact traveling through it and focusing there can be seen on the opposite side of Mimas. The impact is also suspected of having something to do with the current "
Pac-Man ''Pac-Man,'' originally called in Japan, is a 1980 maze video game developed and published by Namco for arcades. In North America, the game was released by Midway Manufacturing as part of its licensing agreement with Namco America. The pla ...
"–shaped temperature pattern on Mimas. Herschel has an estimated age of around 4.1 billion years.


Media reception

The similarity between Mimas's appearance and the
Death Star The Death Star is a fictional space station and superweapon featured in the ''Star Wars'' space-opera franchise. Constructed by the autocratic Galactic Empire, the Death Star is capable of obliterating entire planets, and serves to enforce ...
in ''
Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera media franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and Cultural impact of Star Wars, quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop cu ...
'' due to the large size of Herschel has often been noted, both in the press and in NASA/JPL press releases. This is a coincidence, however, as the crater's similarities were not discovered until 1980 after
Voyager 1 ''Voyager 1'' is a space probe launched by NASA on September 5, 1977, as part of the Voyager program to study the outer Solar System and the interstellar medium, interstellar space beyond the Sun's heliosphere. It was launched 16 days afte ...
gained line of sight, three years after the film was made.


See also

* Pharos – a similarly-sized crater on
Proteus In Greek mythology, Proteus ( ; ) is an early prophetic sea god or god of rivers and oceanic bodies of water, one of several deities whom Homer calls the "Old Man of the Sea" (''hálios gérôn''). Some who ascribe a specific domain to Prote ...
* List of largest craters in the Solar System *
List of tallest mountains in the Solar System This is a list of the tallest mountains in the Solar System. This list includes peaks on all celestial bodies where significant mountains have been detected. For some celestial bodies, different peaks are given across different types of measurem ...


References


External links

* - featuring the Voyager 1 image * * - different photo than the 1995 one with the same title, features the Cassini image * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Herschel (Crater On Mimas) Impact craters on Saturn's moons Mimas (moon)