Mimas in color

Posted 2012/04/10 | 0 comments

Cassini was about 71,500 kilometers from Mimas on February 13, 2010 when it captured the images for this false-color composite. Images taken through infrared, blue, and ultraviolet filters produce a view of the moon that emphasizes the interesting bluish color splotch on its leading hemisphere, centered on the giant crater herschel. The alignment of the color frames is not perfect because when it is as close to Saturn as Mimas' orbit, Cassini is moving very rapidly, so Mimas appeared to rotate from color frame to color frame. The background is not perfectly dark because Mimas was poised in front of Saturn at the time that these photos were taken. (Here is a simulated view from JPL's Solar System Simulator.)