Comments on: Side view of the Death Star moon

By: Moonday: Big Trouble on Little Mimas « Galileo's Pendulum

Moonday: Big Trouble on Little Mimas « Galileo's Pendulum — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 20:04:35 +0000

[...] others (notably Phil Plait) have pointed out, the crater in profile is rather flat-looking. But another thing that struck me [...]

By: Reshared post from Philip Plait #BAFact: Saturn has weird moons. Mimas is the Death Star. Mor… | Null Entropy

Tue, 14 Feb 2012 18:38:57 +0000

[...] More info: http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2011/04/13/side-view-of-the-death-star-moon/ [...]

By: Kevin Kirby

Kevin Kirby — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 17:58:24 +0000

I remember being 10 years old and seeing that Mimas-Death Star image come back from Voyager 1. Pretty much everyone had the same “OH S-” reaction I had.

By: HSolo

HSolo — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 17:32:12 +0000

That’s no moon!

By: Herschel, side-on « Sore Eyes

Herschel, side-on « Sore Eyes — Sun, 01 May 2011 21:50:49 +0000

[...] side-onMay 1st, 2011 @ 10:50 pm › John ↓ Leave a commentQ. Why is Mimas the Rick Astley of moons?1Don't worry, I'm not Rickrolling you. Honest. ↩ Categories: General Tags: astronomy, mimas, [...]

By: Picture Kaleidoscope 4/27/11 « Gloria Oliver

Picture Kaleidoscope 4/27/11 « Gloria Oliver — Sat, 30 Apr 2011 04:19:52 +0000

[...] via BadAstronomer, shared this a link to an article with pictures of the DeathStar Moon. The second picture totally resembles the Star Wars iconic [...]

By: Big Trouble on Little Mimas « Galileo's Pendulum

Big Trouble on Little Mimas « Galileo's Pendulum — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 22:14:13 +0000

[...] others (notably Phil Plait) have pointed out, the crater in profile is rather flat-looking. But another thing that struck me [...]

By: Messier Tidy Upper

Messier Tidy Upper — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 13:07:10 +0000

@22. mike burkhart :

“…In fact I think when Star Wars came out there where no photos of Mimas yet Star Wars was released in 1977, the photos were taken in 1980 or am I mistaken ?”

“Saturn was first visited by Pioneer 11 in September 1979.” [Emphasis added - it didn't view Mimas well.]

Source : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exploration_of_Saturn

Voyager 1′s Saturnian flyby occurred in November 1980,

Pretty sure that was the first spacecraft to image Mimas closely and in good detail.

See : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voyager_1#Encounter_with_Saturn

Then it was Voyager 2′s turn :

The closest approach to Saturn [by Voyager II] occurred on August 26, 1981. [Brackets added.]

Guess what my source for that is? Yes its :

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voyager_2#Encounter_with_Saturn

The fount of all knowledge again!

Same online source notes that the first StarWars movie was “released on May 25, 1977,” – so, yeah the Lucas Death Star preceded our knowing of the Mimas one – & you are quite correct!

By: Messier Tidy Upper

Messier Tidy Upper — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 12:55:10 +0000

@3. sjgadsby Says:

Thank you for another interesting and educational blog post and for bringing more stunning cosmic imagery to the world’s attention. I appreciate it.

Well said & seconded by me.

“The apocalyptic impact carved a crater 130 km (80 miles) across in the moon, which we now call Herschel.”That sentence states that we’ve renamed the moon itself “Herschel”. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, mind you. Herschel is a fine name for a moon.

It as an alternative to – & would have been better than – Uranus for that planet which Wilhelm Herschel discovered 13th March 1781 – 230 years ago this year.

@ 11. flash: That’s no moon… (@AliCali: I win :p)

No, you don’t – *I* beat you to it! See comment # 8.

Ps. : + P without the plus sign = the emoticon here if that helps.

By: Side view of the Death Star moon | Bad Astronomy | American Cars Blog

Side view of the Death Star moon | Bad Astronomy | American Cars Blog — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 07:00:43 +0000

[...] moon wіth thе earth’s rings іn thе background … Read more οn Find out Share and [...]

By: alex c

alex c — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 15:53:34 +0000

i should read the titles before commenting

By: Nigel Depledge

Nigel Depledge — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 09:17:33 +0000

Amphiox (24) said:

We have to, one day (hopefully not too long from now), go there, and turn it into a space station.

And install a big research laser installed at the center of the crater.

Yes!

And use the laser to ignite nuclear fusion in Saturn . . . or was that in a film I saw once?

By: Scott

Scott — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 02:53:00 +0000

That’s no moon….Oh wait, it is. Carry on.

By: blogleaks « Publics & Publishing

blogleaks « Publics & Publishing — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 02:28:39 +0000

[...] 1. http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2011/04/13/side-view-of-the-death-star-moon/ [...]

By: Egad

Egad — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 23:58:48 +0000

> No chaotic terrain, no crater chains, no rays, no nuthin’.

Well, looking at the side view again and engaging my pareidolia and really-want-to-see-it engines, I guess I could imagine a couple of groves and a crater chain leading from the big crater antipodesward. Hopefully the planetologists will be on the case and figure it out.

By: Keith Bowden

Keith Bowden — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 23:58:23 +0000

That’s no space station…
(Someone had to say it.)

Phil, for referencing Rick Astley I take back every nice thing I said about you on Goodreads.

By: Other Paul

Other Paul — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 21:53:01 +0000

J Major – Kenny. Decapitated from behind. No question. First thing I thought. http://twitpic.com/4khybw

By: Egad

Egad — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 21:52:59 +0000

I agree with Adam @1. It’s hard to see any effect of the giant impact at the antipodes or anywhere else on the moon. No chaotic terrain, no crater chains, no rays, no nuthin’. Presumably the giant crater was created early in Mimas’ history and subsequent cratering and other resurfacing processes have wiped out such secondary signs.

By: Pulsar

Pulsar — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 21:33:57 +0000

The Rick Astley of moons? More like the Vanilla Ice of moons… it’s made of ice ice baby!

By: amphiox

amphiox — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 18:42:19 +0000

That’s no moon…

OK, this is what we absolutely must, MUST, do now.

We have to, one day (hopefully not too long from now), go there, and turn it into a space station.

And install a big research laser installed at the center of the crater.

By: Magrathea

Magrathea — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 18:38:17 +0000

Always amazes Me how the people manning those missions can squeeze out the most of every possible orbit, that angle shot required some really funky timing, I don’t know how many hours or countless reiterations of simulations they’ve done, but they really do a wonderful job.

By: mike burkhart

mike burkhart — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 18:26:18 +0000

“Since you are relucted to give us the location of the rebel base we will test this station destructive power on your home planet of Alderan” By the way George Lucas had denied that he got the look of the Death Star from Mimas (In fact I think when Star Wars came out there where no photos of Mimas yet Star Wars was released in 1977, the photos where takeing in 1980 or am I mistaken ?) Off Topic: If you looking for a good guide to Extraterrestrials the find a copy of : Barlowe’s Guide to Extraterrestrials. you will get all the info on the great sci-fi Aliens found in books including `info on there : physical characteristics, habitat,culture and reproduction and full color illstrations plus a size comparsion . A must read for all sci-fi lovers.

By: RwFlynn

RwFlynn — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 18:20:17 +0000

@ 17. Jeff Says:
“referring Rick Astley, watch it , you are chronologically dating yourself!”

If you really *have* to refer to Rick Astley without dating yourself, click my name.

Btw, Mimas’ scar is bad ass! I’m sure it would agree that the impact was worth it.

By: HvP

HvP — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 18:18:01 +0000

A long time ago, ~~in a galaxy far, far away,~~ Mimas got hit pretty hard with something pretty big.

^ This is what went through my head reading this ^

By: One of Saturn’s Moon Got Itself A Face Only Momma Loves. « OMEGA-LEVEL.NET -

Wed, 13 Apr 2011 18:10:29 +0000

[...] Enlarge. | Via. [...]