1992 U.S. Geological Survey Pictorial Map of Mimas, Moon of Saturn

This is a beautiful 1992 U.S. Geological Survey map of Mimas, moon of the planet Saturn. The large crater Herschel, named after William Herschel, the astronomer who discovered Mimas, is identified in this map. Curiously, because of the shape of Herschel, Mimas sometimes resembles the Death Star depicted in the movie Star Wars. The movie however, was made in 1977, three years before the discovery of Mimas. The South Polar Region is featured as an inset in the lower half of this map. This map is based on the images from Voyager 1 and 2.

The primary mission of the Voyager 1 and 2 at the time of launch was to explore Jupiter and Saturn. Since then, the mission objective has been extended to exploring the Solar System beyond the outer planets, as far as the Sun's sphere of influence and possibly even beyond the outer limits of our Solar System. Voyager 2, launched in August 1977, flew by Jupiter and Saturn and continued on to explore Uranus and Neptune, becoming the only spacecraft to visit these outer planets. It is also the only spacecraft to have studied all four giant planets of our Solar System at close range. Voyager 1, launched in September 1977, also flew by Jupiter and Saturn and continued on toward interstellar space. Both space crafts are carrying a golden record explaining their origins and containing sounds and images portraying Earths life and its culture in all its diversity. Although departing the Solar System in different directions, both Voyagers have reached the Heliosheath, where the solar wind mixes with interstellar wind.

This map was prepared for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and published by the U.S. Geological Survey as Atlas of Saturnian Satellites Topographic Series map I-2155.