Researchers could find how Mimas, the smallest of Saturn's moons diverse entourage of icy satellites formed because there is a surface sea or a roughly-shaped core might lie in it.
Like in all the moons they turn around in its own axis and facing its planet, but this astronomer Radwan Tajeddine from the Cornell University, noticed that his turn its further than the other moons. The researchers suggest in the Oct. 17 Science that the large twists must be caused by an unusual distribution of mass inside Mimas, which is just under 400 kilometers across.
Tajeddine and colleagues think the most likely culprit is an elongated core, a possible remnant from the moon’s formation. An underground ocean is also possible, such as the one inside another Saturnian moon.
A few flybys with Cassini, the spacecraft that took the pictures, could let scientists map the moon’s gravity and unearth what Mimas is hiding.
Question1.- What do you think would happen if researchers could understand how Saturn’s diverse entourage of icy satellites formed?
Question2.- Why would an ocean affect this moon?
