On This Day in Space: Sept. 17, 1789: Saturn's 'Death Star' moon Mimas discovered

[Judi Lynn]

By Hanneke Weitering - Associate Editor 2 hours ago

- video at link -

On Sept. 17, 1789, the British astronomer William Herschel discovered Saturn's "Death Star" moon, Mimas.

Of course, "Star Wars" wasn't a thing at the time, and no one had ever heard of something called a "Death Star." But there's no denying that this moon looks just like it.

Anyway, Herschel was a guy who liked to build telescopes and discover things, like the planet Uranus, tiny moons around Jupiter and Saturn, and other stuff out there in space. Shortly after he invented a huge new kind of reflecting telescope called the Herschelian telescope, he spotted Mimas orbiting Saturn.

Mimas is super tiny with a diameter of less than 250 miles. It is the smallest known spherical body in space that is held together by self-gravitation.

More:
https://www.space.com/39251-on-this-day-in-space.html

[krispos42]

1. spherical-ish...