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| Source: BBC link below |
Mimas is the so-called "Death Star" moon because, well...go pull up some You Tube videos of Episode IV: "A New Hope" if you need to come up to speed.
I'm not so sure I'd use the term "wonky" in a sentence, but this is the BBC where all things Star Trek TNG is in endless syndication due to no doubt Sir Patrick Stewart.
I am sincerely hoping for water and a few microbes. That would be mankind's encounter with extraterrestrials that didn't involve ray guns or "live long and prosper" greetings.
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.
BBC News: Death Star moon may be 'wonky or watery', Jonathan Webb
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