Mimas (2009 May 17)

[apodman]

http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap090517.html (Cassini 2005)

http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap050308.html (Cassini 2005 - another shot)

http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap990425.html (Voyager 1 - 1980)
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap950924.html (Voyager 1 - 1980 - same shot)

[neufer]

The first Death Star had a crew of 265,675, as well as 52,276 gunners, 607,360 troops, 30,984 stormtroopers, 42,782 ship support staff, and 180,216 pilots and support crew. Its hangars contain assault shuttles, blastboats, Strike cruisers, land vehicles, support ships, and 7,293 TIE fighters. It is also protected by 10,000 turbolaser batteries, 2,600 ion cannons (C-beams?), and at least 768 tractor beam projectors. Various sources state the first Death Star has a diameter between 120 and 160 kilometers.

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<<With a diameter of 400 kilometers Mimas is the smallest known astronomical body of the solar system which has a rounded shape due to its self-gravitation. Mimas is responsible for clearing the material from the Cassini Division, the gap between Saturn's two widest rings, A ring and B ring. Particles at the inner edge of the Cassini division are in a 2:1 resonance with Mimas. They orbit twice for each orbit of Mimas. The repeated pulls by Mimas on the Cassini division particles, always in the same direction in space, force them into new orbits outside the gap. Other resonances with Mimas are also responsible for other features in Saturn's rings: the boundary between the C and B ring is at the 3:1 resonance and the outer F ring shepherd, Pandora, is at the 3:2 resonance. More recently, a 7:6 corotation eccentricity resonance has been discovered with the G ring, whose inner edge is about 15 000 km inside the orbit of Mimas.>>

[kovil]

For those of us who work on Planetoid Death Star
we often find it helpful to call the Help Desk
to obtain certain information we can't find anywhere else.
Here is their web address:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Q8DriPCX2o

If you're lucky Bud Bundy will answer.

And yes, there is no truth to the rumor that it uses an artificial singularity as its power source, I asked.
They laughed, and said an 'artificial singularity' is when a man takes off his wedding ring at a Hooters Bar.

[soupphysics]

haha, it's the first thing that came to my mind to. I actually came here to the forum, just to tell how much it looked like the death star, but you beat me to it

[orin stepanek]

haha, it's the first thing that came to my mind to. I actually came here to the forum, just to tell how much it looked like the death start, but you beat me to it

Actually the Death Star looks ike Mimas; as the satelite was first.

Orin

[Dr. Skeptic]

Did anyone check the scale of these photos?

[neufer]

Did anyone check the scale of these photos?

Mimas is 3 times bigger in diameter than the Death Star.

Before the Death Star, Mimas could destroy whole cities:
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<<Some myths use giants to explain features of the natural world. For example, during the struggle in which the Greek gods overcame the giants, several fallen giants became part of the landscape. As the giant Enceladus ran from the battlefield, the goddess Athena smashed him with the island of Sicily. Thereafter, he lay imprisoned under the island, breathing his fiery breath out through the volcano called Etna. Under Vesuvius, a volcano on the Italian mainland, lay another giant, Mimas. Hephaestus, the god of metalsmiths, buried him there under a heap of molten metal.>>

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<<Ever since ancient times the Karaburun Peninsula was stage to a number of extraordinary mythological stories and other tales. In the classical Greek period and during the Roman period, the peninsula as well as its Bozdag range carried the name of “MİMAS”. The Karaburun Peninsula owns the name of “MİMAS” to the Greek mythology. The story goes that.....

The Goddess of the Earth, GAİA, had given birth to the GİGANTES (Giants), next to the Titans and a number of other children. The Giants, who numbered over hundred, were said to have been conceived from the blood their father Uranus shed over the earth after one of his sons, Chronos, had castrated him to free his mother Gaia from the burden of too frequent pregnancies. The most well known Giants were Porphyrion, Alcyoneus, Enceladus, Ephialtes, Eurytus, Clytius, Polybotes, Pallas, Hippolytus, Gration, Agrius, Thoas and Mimas.

The Giants were supernatural creatures, with a fearful appearance. Though they owned a humanlike body, they were covered with scales and their legs ended in a kind of lizard or snake like tail. They had shaggy hair and long beards. In their hairy hands they held long shiny spears. The Giants were extraordinarily strong. They were able to break huge rocks from the mountains and throw them very far.

Although they were of divine origin, they were mortal or at least, in order to be killed they had to be hit simultaneously by a god and by a mortal. Other myths say that some Giants were immortal as long as they walked on the ground of their homeland.

The Giants were often visited by the Olympic gods who also participated in their banquets that were organized during celebrations when the Giants offered hecatombs to the gods. The gods liked the company of the Giants.

After a ten years lasting battle with the Olympians gods, the Titans had to surrender to Zeus and his family. Zeus punished them by sending them into the Tartarus which is laying deep under the earth and from where they never came out any more. Gaia, who was also Zeus’ grandmother, was infuriated by what had happened to her children and stirred up the Giants to make war upon the Olympian gods.

Thus the Giants attacked without any prior warning and a terrible battle broke out known as the “GİGANTOMACHY”. All the Olympic gods killed one or more Giants. When Zeus and Athena were fighting Mimas, one of the most dangerous Giants, they fell into a difficult position. Hephaestus, the God of Fire intervened by throwing a burning mass of melted iron, steel and copper on Mimas. Mimas fell burning on the earth. So that he would never get up any more, Hephaestus buried Mimas for ever deep under Mount Mimas near Erythrai across the Island of Chios.>>

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<<Karaburun, the old Mimas, has been mentioned several times in Greek mythology. In his Odyssey Homer mentions “windy Mimas” meaning the Bozdag range of the Karaburun Peninsula. And indeed, the Karaburun Peninsula is known for its strong winds during storm-weather in winter and also for the many windmills which were build through the ages. In the near future this same peculiarity will be exploited by wind turbines and thus add a new dimension to this characteristic of the peninsula.

Another link has been made between the mythological story of the beautiful young Narcissus and the narcissus flower which is growing all over the Karaburun Peninsula. The ancient Greek poet Homer and presumed author of the Illiad and the Odyssey, was born in this region. Again according to Greek mythology , the Goddess Hera, the wife of Zeus asked the goddess Iris (Thaumantia with her other name and messenger of the Olympic gods and also goddess of the rainbow) to go and sit high on top of Mount Mimas so that she could detect the love affairs Zeus had with other goddesses and mortal beauties. South-west of the Mount Mimas a little lake which is drying out in summer, still carries the name of Lake Iris.>>

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<<When talking about Karaburun, one automatically thinks of the marvelously well smelling white-yellow narcissus flowers which are growing throughout the peninsula in winter. These narcissi are cultivated by the villagers and collected during the months of December and January to be sold in the big cities where their refreshing smell fill the living-rooms.

According to some authors, the mythological story of the handsome young Narcissus, after whom the narcissus flower was named, took place on the slopes of Mount Mimas. Narcissus was born as the son of the River God Cephissus and the Nymph Liriope. The seer Tiresias predicted that “the child would live a long life on the condition that it would never see itself”. When Narcissus had become a young adolescent, his perfect beauty enflamed the hearts of all the nymphae and young girls. But Narcissus wasn’t paying attention to any of his admirers and passed the days by living a care-free and happy life hunting in the woods around Mount Mimas.

Echo, one of the nymphae fell in love with Narcissus and tried to attract his attention. But just like with all the other nymphae and young girls, Narcissus stayed uninterested to the efforts of Echo. Finally the poor Echo wasted away because of her unanswered love for Narcissus and her voice faded to a mere whisper. When the goddess Nemesis, who fought all exagerations, heard about the misfortune of Echo, she decided to punish Narcissus. So one day, while hunting, Narcissus bowed over a water well to quench his thirst. When he saw his own reflection in the water, he didn’t realize that it was his own image and fell deeply in love with whom he thought was a beautiful young boy.

Narcissus started to wander around looking for the deeply loved young boy and came every day to the well to contemplate the unreachable image of his beloved. Days passed, months passed and the love of Narcissus for this unknown young boy grew bigger and bigger. Finally Narcissus, devored by this unanswered love, lost all appetite and zest for living and died at the well where he had seen the picture for the first time. On the spot where his dead body laid, narcissus flowers started to grow as if they wanted to celebrate the perfect beauty of this unfortunate young adolescent with their lovely smell. Over the ages the narcissi have spread over the whole Karaburun Peninsula.>>

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[ta152h0]

I wonder if the projectile that hit MIMAS went thru the body and exited the other side Any images from the backside ( from the image point of view ) ?

[Case]

Actually the Death Star looks ike Mimas; as the satelite was first.

Maybe not:
"Long ago in a Galaxy far, far away". It is not stated how long ago; it could be before Mimas.

[soupphysics]

The death start looks like mimas.
Mimas looks like the death star.

I means the exact same. If one is true, the other one is too. 8)

[ta152h0]

relatively speaking, we are a " galaxy far away "

[orin stepanek]

The death start looks like mimas.
Mimas looks like the death star.

I means the exact same. If one is true, the other one is too. 8)

I was just giving respect to the first. I didn't mean to offend.
They do indeed have an uncanny resemblance. 8)

Orin

[BMAONE23]

I think that Iapetus better resembles the Death Star, Not only does it have a large morthern hemispheric crater but it also has the equitorial band

[neufer]

I think that Iapetus better resembles the Death Star, Not only does it have a large morthern hemispheric crater but it also has the equitorial band

BMAONE23 has clearly gone over to the dark side.

[DavidLeodis]

Yes, Mimas and the Death Star do look similar. I am though confused why some needed to point that out, as the "spherical body" in the explanation to the APOD is a link to a Wikipedia article (last updated on April 18 2009) on the Death Star in which there is mention of the reported resemblence of the two since 1980. I surely cannot be the only person that actually uses the links in APOD's.

[apodman]

I surely cannot be the only person that actually uses the links in APOD's.

Shame on me. I use the links, but apparently not every day. APOD is like brushing, while the links are like flossing.

[neufer]

Yes, Mimas and the Death Star do look similar. I am though confused why some needed to point that out, as the "spherical body" in the explanation to the APOD is a link to a Wikipedia article (last updated on April 18 2009) on the Death Star in which there is mention of the reported resemblence of the two since 1980.

Yes, but is BMAONE23 the first to connect Iapetus to the (unfinished) Death Star?

<<In Greek mythology, Iapetus, also Iapetos or Japetus (Greek: Ἰαπετός), was a Titan, the son of Uranus and Gaia, and father (by an Oceanid named Clymene or Asia) of Atlas, Prometheus, Epimetheus, and Menoetius and through Prometheus, Epimetheus and Atlas an ancestor of the human race.
Iapetus has (for example, by John Milton) been equated with Japheth (יֶפֶת), the son of Noah, based on the similarity of their names and on old Jewish traditions, that held Japheth as the ancestor of the Greeks, the Slavs, the Italics, the Teutons etc. (see Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews).

GOMER is the eldest son of Japheth. >>