APOD 4.6

This picture, "Herschel Crater on Mimas of Saturn" was taken by the Cassini spacecraft. Orbiting Saturn is of one of the smaller round moons of Saturn, Mimas. It features the Herschel crater, one of the largest impact craters in the Solar System. The Cassini came within 10,000 km of the moon when it took the picture, setting a new record. The image has been composited with previous images to show detail in the landscape of the moon. It has been false colored and contrast enhanced to show the cratered terrain. The crater itself spans about 130 km. The low mass of Mimas creates enough gravity to keep it spherical, but to also allow features like this exist. Mimas is made mostly of water ice and rock.