In its season of "lasts," NASA's Cassini spacecraft made its final close approach to Saturn's moon Mimas on January 30, 2017. At closest approach, Cassini passed 25,620 miles (41,230 kilometers) from Mimas. This mosaic is one of the highest resolution views ever captured of the icy moon. Mimas' surface is pockmarked with countless craters, the largest of which gives the icy moon its distinctive appearance.

Imaging scientists combined ten narrow-angle camera images to create this mosaic view. The scene is an orthographic projection centered on terrain at 17.5 degrees south latitude, 325.4 degrees west longitude on Mimas. An orthographic view is most like the view seen by a distant observer looking through a telescope.

This mosaic was acquired at a distance of approximately 28,000 miles (45,000 kilometers) from Mimas. Image scale is approximately 820 feet (250 meters) per pixel. The images were taken in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow-angle camera on Jan. 30, 2017.

Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute
Image Number: PIA 17213
Date: January 30, 2017

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Owner: NASA on The Commons
Source: Flickr Commons
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