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Mimas: A Death Star with an Ocean?
Scientists have discovered that beneath Mimas’ surface lies a liquid water ocean. It is relatively young, formed only 5–15 million years ago.
Mimas is the seventh-largest satellite of Saturn. It is often called the “Death Star” because its icy appearance strikingly resembles the lethal space station from the “Star Wars” universe.
Its surface is entirely covered with smaller and larger craters. The largest of them, visible on the northern hemisphere, is Herschel. The crater is enormous — with a diameter of 130 km, while the diameter of Mimas itself is 400 km. It is Herschel that gives this small moon of Saturn such a sinister appearance.
Researchers have suspected for some time that Mimas may harbor a surprise: a liquid ocean beneath its porous surface. In the latest issue of “Nature,” a paper has emerged confirming these speculations. Dr. Valéry Lainey’s team from Observatoire de Paris-PSL has shown that beneath the crust of the “Death Star,” there is indeed a huge reservoir of water. Thus, Mimas joins the icy moons of the Solar System with subsurface oceans: Titan and Enceladus, as well as Europa and Ganymede.
