Today's Astronomy picture of the day is Saturn's moon, Mimas, bathed in light from both the planet and the sun. The image has had the darker side brightened somewhat; click through for the unenhanced original.
Explanation:
Peering from the shadows, the Saturn-facing hemisphere of Mimas lies in near darkness alongside a dramatic sunlit crescent.
The mosaic was captured near the Cassini spacecraft's final close approach on January 30, 2017.
Cassini's camera was pointed in a nearly sunward direction only 45,000 kilometers from Mimas.
The result is one of the highest resolution views of the icy, crater-pocked, 400 kilometer diameter moon. …
Other Cassini images of Mimas include the small moon's large and ominous Herschel Crater.
