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Image
Mimas temperatures unannotated
Image Courtesy of NASA/JPL/GSFC/SwRI/SSI
Caption
This figure illustrates the unexpected and bizarre pattern of daytime temperatures found on Saturn's small inner moon Mimas (396 kilometers, or 246 miles, in diameter). The data were obtained by the composite infrared spectrometer (CIRS) on NASA's Cassini spacecraft during the spacecraft's closest-ever look at Mimas on Feb. 13, 2010. The unannotated version shows the imaging science subsystem visible-light mosaic of Mimas from previous flybys on the left. The right-hand image shows the new CIRS temperature data mapped on top of the visible-light image.