NASA Finds Pac-Man On The Death Star

NASA's Cassini spacecraft collected the clearest images of Saturn's icy moon Mimas, whose resemblance to the Death Star is often remarked upon. And when Cassini mapped Mimas' temperatures, they found... Pac Man? It's the pop-culture crossover you never expected.

Writes NASA:


"Even though we can't explain the observed pattern of surface temperatures on Mimas, the giant Herschel crater is a leading suspect," said Dr. Mike Flasar, composite infrared spectrometer principal investigator from NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. "The energy of impact that created it several billion years ago has been estimated to be one-seventh of Mimas's own gravitational energy. Anything much larger would likely have torn the moon apart. We really would like to see if there is also an anomalous temperature pattern on the other side of Herschel, which has not been observed so closely."



More info and pics at the link. [NASA via Gizmodo]