Discovered in 1789, Mimas is the twentieth-largest of Saturn’s 62 moons. It is also the smallest known astronomical body that is thought to be have a round shape due to self-gravitation. Other than that, Mimas is largely unremarkable...unless you are a nerd! From the right angle, anyone who is familiar with the Star Wars films will immediately notice an uncanny resemblance to a certain weaponized space station! This unusual comparison is due to the fact that its surface is marred by an enormous indentation called the Herschel Crater that looks just like the Death Star’s superlaser!
Another geeky reference can be seen when looking at a map of daytime surface temperatures on Mimas. As with most normal celestial bodies, scientists expected that Mimas would exhibit a temperature reading much like that of Earth - warmer temperatures near the moon’s equator in the early afternoon that taper off as you move away from the center of the moon. However, this was not the case. For some reason the hottest temperatures were registered in the morning along the moon’s edge, in a pattern that looks just like Pac-Man, from the famous arcade game! Scientists expect that Mimas’s irregular heat pattern was likely caused by the impact which created the Herschel Crater many years ago.
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