Herschel (Mimantean crater)
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Geology
Herschel is the second-largest crater relative to its parent body of any equilibrium planetary moon in the Solar System after Tethys's crater Odysseus. It is so large that astronomers have expressed surprise that Mimas was not shattered by the impact that caused it. It measures 139 kilometres (86 miles) across, almost one third the diameter of Mimas. Its walls are approximately 5 km (3 mi) high, parts of its floor are 10–12 km (6–7 mi) deep, and its central peak rises 6–8 km (3+1⁄2–5 mi) above the crater floor. If there were a crater of an equivalent scale on Earth it would be over 4,000 km (2,500 mi) in diameter – wider than Canada – with walls over 200 km (120 mi) high.
Origin
The impact that formed Herschel must have nearly disrupted Mimas entirely. Large chasms (termed chasmata) that may be stress fractures due to shock waves from the impact traveling through it and focusing there can be seen on the opposite side of Mimas. The impact is also suspected of having something to do with the current "Pac-Man"–shaped temperature pattern on Mimas. Herschel has an estimated age of around 4.1 billion years.
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Media reception
The similarity between Mimas's appearance and the Death Star in Star Wars due to the large size of Herschel has often been noted, both in the press and in NASA/JPL press releases. This is a coincidence, however, as the crater's similarities were not discovered until 1980 after Voyager 1 gained line of sight, three years after the film was made.