Liquid Balance on Saturn Satellite ‘Mimas’

16 October 2014

‘Death Star’ moon may be ‘wonky or watery’

From the BBC News WEB Site.’

 “The internal structure of one of Saturn’s moons is either wonky or awash with water, according to a new study. Mimas is nicknamed the Death Star because it resembles the infamous Star Wars space station. It has a tell-tale wobble that is twice as big as expected for a moon with a regular, solid structure. The researchers offer two explanations: either it has a vast ocean beneath its surface, or a rocky core with a weird shape resembling a rugby ball. The study appears in Science Magazine. Its authors are astronomers in the US, France and Belgium, who based their calculations on high-resolution photos of Mimas snapped by the Cassini spacecraft. Cassini was sent to Saturn in 1997 to explore the planet and its many moons, which so far number 62 (53 with names). Exotic interior The researchers built a detailed 3D model of Mimas using images taken from various angles, and tracked the movement of hundreds of reference points on its pockmarked surface. “After carefully eFrom the BBC News WEb Site.’xamining Mimas, we found it librates – that is, it subtly wobbles – around the moon’s polar axis,” said lead author Dr Radwan Tajeddine, who works at Cornell University in the US. Apart from these gentle “librations”, Mimas otherwise presents the same face to Saturn throughout its orbit.”

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Liquid Balancing is a recognized  method of balancing rotating objects.

Earth,s oceans  provide a very successful balancing mechanism for any imbalances due to the Earth’s structure.

On a rotating object , a liquid automatically arranges itself to offset any imbalances.

Even the subsurface magma will try to re-arrange the floating landmasses to offset any imbalances.

I do not think that the scientists can expect to find much water on ‘Mimus’ and I suggest they take plenty of water with them when they go.

Author – Brian Williams.