Authors: Dermott S. F. and Thomas P. C.
Year: 1988
Title: The shape and internal structure of Mimas
Journal: Icarus
Volume: 73
Pages: 25-65
Keywords: Saturn, major, Mimas, planetology
Abstract: The present effort to determine the shape of Mimas proceeds on the basis of limb profiles from six Voyager images; the fitting of ellipses to the limbs indicates that the shape is a triaxial ellipsoid. The satellite mass determined by Kozai (1957), in conjunction with a second-order theory for the ellipsoidal figure of equilibrium, leads to a satellite mean radius determination of 198.8 + or - 0.6 km, and a mean density of 1.137 + or - 0.018 g/cu cm. It is suggested that Mimas is probably differentiated, with a rocky core and a water-ice crust; alternatively, Mimas has a cosmic composition of ice and rock and is undifferentiated.
%F: AB(Cornell University, Ithaca, NY)
Bibliogaphic Code: 1988Icar...73...25D
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