Template:POTD/2012-09-17
Picture of the day archives
:
2012 September
<
2012 September 16
2012 September 18
>
Picture of the day
Saturn
's moon
Mimas
, as imaged by the
Cassini
spacecraft. It was discovered on
17 September
1789 by English astronomer
William Herschel
, and was named after
Mimas
, a son of
Gaia
in
Greek mythology
, by Herschel's son
John
. The large
Herschel Crater
is the dominating feature of the moon. With a diameter of 396 km (246 mi), it is the smallest
astronomical body
that is known to be rounded due to self-
gravitation
.
Photo:
NASA
/
JPL
/
SSI
Archive
–
More featured pictures...
This
picture of the day
has been
featured on Portal:Solar System
.